Pokemon Divine Legacy Book 4: Evolution
by Maximus Prime 802
Summary: As their trek to find the Palace of Light continues, our heroes are forced to split up, to find the next riddle and to stop Giratina from unleashing his true power. Meanwhile, the Dark Lord has recruited a new commander to his army, and his Antimon have become far more powerful
1. Kyurem

Darkrai had searched the frozen mountain peaks of the Unova Region for several days, his quarry was nowhere to be seen. Giratina assigned him to find the abandoned mines in the mountains known as Full Court in search of the Pokémon who dwelled there. During the Platinum Wars, Giratina found the Pokémon of Full Court on the brink of death, the Renegade Pokémon offered to restore his strength and power, for a price. Like Darkrai, the Pokémon in Full Court owed Giratina his soul and now he came to collect.

Days of searching were finally about to be paid off as Darkrai flew over a rise in the mountains, while in the Shadow Zone, he had found Full Court. The Pokémon master of fear lifted his head out of the shadows to get a better view of the long abandoned mines. Once he was sure that this place was the objective of his search, he returned to the Shadow Zone and moved down the other side of the rise, right into the mines.

Abandoned equipment and carts littered the courtyard. When the Pokémon came through here to claim the mines as his sanctuary, the humans ran for their lives leaving everything behind. The miners tried to explain what had happened but no one believed their stories. The most logical assumption was that they had struck a toxic gas that caused all of them to hallucinate, for this reason, the mines became restricted. From that day on, the Pokémon dwelling inside was left to his solitude for over one hundred years.

Darkrai steadily levitated past the rusting metal lifts and tracks before reaching the opening to the mines. Upon reaching the entrance, Darkrai lifted himself out of the Shadow Zone and returned to the physical world. He was weary, although they both served the same Dark lord, this Pokémon would not hesitate killing him in an instant.

"You have a dept to pay." Darkrai called down the mines, "You owe Giratina your loyalty, and I have come to collect."

There was a pause, not a single sound escaped the mines. Darkrai knew he was down there, he was just ignoring him. Too afraid to face his dept, the Pokémon fled after the Platinum Wars, hiding from Giratina in Full Court. But there was nowhere to run that he could be safe from the Renegade Pokémon.

"You cannot escape your destiny, Kyurem." Darkrai warned. The mines began to shake as Kyurem stepped out of the mountains, and towered over Darkrai.

Even after a thousand years, Kyurem still intimidated Darkrai. His body was entirely grey with a white crest around his gigantic head. Both his white wings were massive and despite having only half of one, he was still a skilled flyer. His arms may've been tiny but they were still as lethal as his razor sharp under bite. Kyurem's cold yellow eyes pierced Darkrai's soul. The large dragon Pokémon prided himself with being known as the most powerful dragon on Earth, and was willing to prove it, which only made Darkrai the more afraid of him.

"I owe Giratina nothing." Kyurem growled in a voice that was as cold as the Ice power he had, "My dept was paid during the war."

"You remember the law; you will only be freed when Giratina says so, or until one of you have perished." Darkrai reminded.

"Then he and I will see who the real master is." Kyurem responded threateningly. Darkrai knew that Kyurem could prove to be a challenge for Giratina, but not enough to be a victor in a battle, and Giratina always battled to the death.

"Even the strength of his brothers united is not a match for him, what makes you think you can do it?" Darkrai challenged. Kyurem paused, although he refused to admit it Darkrai was right. If neither Dialga or Palkia could defeat Giratina, the Pokémon gods of time and space, how could Kyurem stand against him.

"Do you not remember the horrors that Giratina made us do during the wars?" Kyurem asked Darkrai hoping to get in touch with his decency, "How can he bring me any lower?"

"Fear not Kyurem" Darkrai assured, "Once you have completed this task for Giratina, he will set you free."

Kyurem knew that the odds were that Giratina would kill him after this final mission. But alive or not he would finally be free from Giratina, something the ice dragon was desperate for. Even if it meant taking another life, Kyurem was willing to do anything to free himself from the hold the cruel Pokémon had on his soul.

"What does Giratina want?" Kyurem asked. Darkrai simply grinned and instructed Kyurem on his objective.

"There is a girl…" Darkrai began.


	2. Red Awakens

**May's log entry 2:**

_Shortly after we got the Azure Flute, Dawn was abducted by Red's Giovanni's son, Silver. Red went after him alone, battled him and won. Here Red found out that Silver had made an alliance with Team Galactic. Later we found out Sird survived the explosion at Mt. Coronet by making a deal with Giratina. When Sird went back on her deal, Giratina punished her by sucking all the Team Galactic agents into the Distortion World, unfortunately Misty was taken into the Distortion World too, Ash has been taking it the hardest. When Red tried to save Dawn he was tortured by Team Galactic. He was hurt so badly that Chars had to take him to the nearest Pokémon Center, which is where we are now, Dawn hasn't left his side since._

Dawn was exhausted, she had not slept in several days. She would not leave Red's bedside until he awoke. Red was willing to give his life to ensure that Dawn had a chance to escape, the least she could do for him would be to stand by her friend and make sure he would pull through. Red laid still in the bed Nurse Joy had set up from him. The Pokémon Master was hooked to a heart monitor and had bandages wrapped around his chest and torso, covering the electric burns he suffered from Mars during his torture. Sadly, that would be the last thing Mars would ever do to anyone.

Dawn tried to use her powers to heal him, but it was to no avail. This did nothing to ease her tension. She had no idea why she couldn't save him when she saw that her powers can heal Pokémon and humans alike. Her fear was that she somehow angered Arceus and as punishment he took her powers. Dawn's even greatest fear was that Red's wounds would turn fatal if she could not heal them with her divine gifts.

Slowly, Red began moving, his head moving up as his eyes began to open. The Pokémon Master began grunting and groaning, trying to make out everything around him. The only thing that was familiar to him was Dawn, sitting next to his bed. Ecstatic to see her friend alive, Dawn jumped forward and hugged Red tightly. The tight hold Dawn had on Red's wounds inflicted the Pokémon Master with pain again, causing him to grunt in pain. Realizing she was hurting him, Dawn quickly let go.

"How long was I unconscious for?" Red asked, groggily.

"Three days" Dawn answered, "I'm so glad you're okay, I was beginning to think the worst."

"I told you before" Red reassured, "It's very difficult to kill me."

Red stopped and saw Dawn's current state. Her clothes had been torn apart (for lack of seeming indecent Red held baclk commenting on how he could see a shoulder strap on Dawn's brassiere) and she was absolutely filthy, dirt patches covered her shredded outfit, her hair and her face were also littered with filth. At the same time, Red could hear her stomach practically roaring, indicating that she had not eaten in a very long time.

"Forget me, what happened to you?" Red asked.

"Well the battle with Team Galactic was pretty rough" Dawn explained humorously, as she rubbed the back of her head, "and I haven't had any food in a while."

"Thank you for standing by me." Red remarked honestly. The Pokémon Master lifted his hand out from underneath the blankets and slowly slid it towards the Dawn's hand that was on the bed. In just seconds, he would have her hand in his own, but that moment was interrupted.

At that moment, Ash, Brock and May all stepped into the room. They were excited to see the Ultimate Pokémon Master survived his brush with death, and was with them today.

"You look like you slept well." Brock said jokingly.

"I wasn't asleep, I was in a coma." Red commented.

"Now that Red's awake, you're coming with me." May said as she gestured towards Dawn.

"Where are we going?" Dawn asked, no idea of what May was planning.

"We're going shopping to get you some new clothes." May explained, "You look like Sapphire from those graphic novels my brother loves so much."

With that idea in her mind, Dawn picked up Piplup in her arms and followed May out and back to the lobby.

"I was thinking about getting this great red leather jacket I saw in a magazine." Dawn recommended.

"Let's think price range, twenty dollars at most." May explained as she and Dawn walked through the front doors of the Pokémon Center.

Although Ash was happy that Red was alive, his face did not show it. The loss of Misty had taken its toll on Ash, not even Pikachu could find a way to raise his spirits. The young trainers facial expressions caught Red's attention.

"What happened in my absence?" Red asked both Brock and Ash.

"Nothing happened Red." Ash explained quickly and that was all he said

"Then where's Misty." Red challenged.

Brock quickly went to work explaining the battle against Team Galactic, Giratina dragging all the agents into the Distortion World and how Misty was taken with them. Red could see the expression on Ash's face, it was the same expression he had when Leaf died on Cinnabar Island. He recognized the feelings of failure and despair that weighed down on Ash, Red had hoped that the trainer would never have to feel the same pain that he did. But now that Ash was burdened with the same suffering as he was, his only hope was that his friend would not be blinded by a pointless vendetta as he was.

"If I was stronger, I could've saved her." Ash commented to himself.

"Ash, you're stronger than any trainer I've ever met." Red commented. Pichu ran into the room at the sound of her trainer talking. Once she saw Red, the small Pokémon ran up to his bed and rubbed her head against her trainer's chest.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened" Brock added, "You did nothing wrong."

"That may be true, and I'll make Giratina pay." Ash responded coldly.

Although Red refused to admit it, he was mortified. He was not just hearing Ash, he was hearing himself from several months ago. This experience had turned Ash into the same cruel Trainer that Red had become. Luckily for Red, it was Dawn's compassion and pure heart that brought him back to the light. Unfortunately, Ash would not have that kind of support, he might not be so lucky as Red and might end up becoming a worse Trainer than he had become.

"Once Dawn and May come back from shopping, we'll get Dawn to decipher the riddle on the Azure Flute." Brock suggested as he helped Red get back to his feet. The Pokémon Master grabbed onto the nightstand next to his bed while Brock held his shoulder and pulled him up. Finally, Red's feet touched down to the floor and he was standing once more.


	3. Sky Pillar

With Red capable of walking again; he, Ash and Brock walked to the main lobby of the Pokémon Center where they waited for Dawn and May to return from their shopping.

"Well I'm glad to see you're okay Red." Nurse Joy commented upon seeing him enter the lobby. Seeing Nurse Joy, Brock sprung right into action.

"Indeed he is healed Nurse Joy," Brock began, "But it could only have been done by your special care. A nurse as talented and beautiful as you can only come once in a lifetime. And I am honored to have had you come in my lifetime, Nurse Joy there is nothing you don't know or can't do for medicine."

Before Brock could embarrass himself any further, Croagunk had jumped out of its PokéBall and used its Poison Jab, striking Brock in the back with its glowing purple fist, paralyzing them.

"First, can you have this removed?" Brock asked Nurse Joy weakly, before falling to the ground. Croagunk then took Brock's leg in its hand and dragged him away.

"Dawn and May should be back soon." Red commented.

"The quicker they get here, the quicker we stop Giratina." Ash added.

As Red commented on Dawn and May's time, both walked into the Pokémon Center. May looked the same with her white gloves, green bandana and orange shirt and skirt. While Dawn looked different, she wore a white t-shirt with a black vest, a magenta scarf, magenta skinny shorts and hair clips, and black knee socks with magenta boots. Dawn as usual kept her white hat with the pink PokéBall on it, but this time, her hair was stylized into a Chinese bob. She also had two rings, one per hand, one had a diamond on it and the other had a pearl. Much to Red's enjoyment, she also kept the earrings he gave her for her birthday.

"You look amazing." Red commented to Dawn.

He had never seen her look this way before; so mature, so adult. All that the Pokémon Master had ever seen Dawn, was as a small defenseless child that he needed to protect. Finally he saw just how grown up she was, how independent she had become and now he realized how much of her life he missed. Like a father at sea for ten years of his daughter's life, Red felt a sense of emptiness as though there was a great gap in his life that he could have only filled if he had been by her side to watch her grow up. In the least, Red was proud that Dawn had become such a mature and free spirited young woman. Even if Red couldn't stay for the ride, at least he knew how it ended.

"Thanks." Dawn replied, mildly blushing as she held her wrist in her hand. Her powers allowed her to see Red's true feelings based on his facial expressions. Truth be told, Dawn was slightly embarrassed that Red considered her a child.

"She would've chosen a Lara Croft outfit, if it wasn't so expensive." May commented.

"We lost a lot of time over the last couple of days." Ash said, regarding Red's former incapacitated state.

"Well he would've healed quicker if I was able to heal him" Dawn explained, "I don't know why my powers didn't work."

"Because Red's injuries were caused by self sacrifice." A familiar female voice called out to them. All five trainers, Pikachu, Piplup and Pichu all turned their heads towards the doors to the Pokémon Center and were relieved and excited to see a friend they assumed had perished by the hands of the Dark Pokémon.

"Cynthia?" May asked in shock, "You're alive?"

"Alive and very well." Cynthia answered calmly.

"But we thought Darkrai had gotten you." Brock replied, curious as to how the Sinnoh Champion survived.

"Brock's right, I had a nightmare where I saw you hypnotized by Darkrai and surrounded by Antimon" Dawn explained, "I guess it was just a nightmare."

"Actually Dawn, it was real." Cynthia explained regretfully, embarrassed by being reduced to such a humiliating state, "Because I was there when you decoded where the first monument would be, Darkrai hypnotized me so that I could tell him where the first it was. This way he wouldn't end up blindly looking for you guys."

Brock remembered that; the first day of their quest to find the Palace of Light, Cynthia and her grandmother Professor Carolina bid them a fond farewell and wished them a great deal of luck, before they would set off on their journey. What Brock remembered most about that day was that it was the last day he was excited about going their quest, the following weeks he would only be feeling boredom which would be quickly replaced by fear after their encounter with the Antimon.

"Wait, how did you escape?" May asked with great curiosity, hoping that this was not a trick by Giratina.

"My Lucario was the only Pokémon the Antimon did not succumb. Seeing his opportunity, he gathered his aura sphere as much as he could before releasing it in one devastating attack which took out most of the Antimon, I snapped out of my trance and my other Pokémon were freed to battle them." Cynthia explained.

"A supercharged Aura move?" Brock asked in shock, "I've never heard of one like that."

"I have" Red explained. It was true, although it seemed impossible, there was an aura based move that powerful. He had seen this move used only once, by an even more powerful Lucario. It's name still held true in his mind, the true power of aura, "Aura Storm."

Dawn was pleased to hear Cynthia survived, but she was still wanted to know why it was that her powers couldn't help Red. If she could jumpstart the Lake Guardians' hearts and cleanse May of a toxic venom then she should've healed Red of his electric burns.

"You mentioned that my powers weren't working because of self sacrifice" Dawn asked, "What does that mean?"

"I read that a Guardian Priestess' powers of healing only work if she is not healing herself, or a person's injuries are not connected to their destinies" explained Cynthia, " Red's wounds were caused by his own act of self sacrifice, that means that it was a fate he chose for himself, so your powers had no effect."

"So if somebody gets hurt because of they chose too, then Dawn can't heal them." Brock confirmed.

"You mean I can't help someone if they let themselves get hurt?" Dawn asked in terror. Her feelings were very obvious to everyone around her.

"We'll just have to be more careful" Ash decided, "Right now we need to find decipher the riddle on the Azure Flute."

"Right, I've got it with me." Brock commented, as he pulled off his large blue backpack and pulled the flute out of it. The Flute was very peculiar looking, it seemed like a piece of corral made from Azurite stone. The Pokémon doctor handed flute to Dawn and the young Priestess began to read the text out loud that only she could read.

"I scrape the ceiling of the world, a pillar of hope and virtue, within me the key to the ozone serpent most powerful."

The riddle seemed to be quite a troublesome one to all six of them. The riddle was quite complex, more so than the previous ones. Arceus must've created a difficult one as to divert Giratina from its location. The part of the riddle that laid a firm hand down in Dawn's mind was the part about an ozone serpent.

"Is there a Pokémon that has a relationship to the ozone layer?" Dawn asked all the trainers around her at once. Cynthia had heard stories of a Pokémon that lived in the ozone layer, but for the life of her she could not remember the name of it.

Red recalled the name of the Pokémon, but he was unsure that his assumption was correct. Hoping not to make any mistakes, he pulled out his state of the art Pokédex and looked up the name of the Pokémon, he was right about it. He was also right about fearing this fiercely territorial Pokémon, the most powerful Pokémon native to the Hoenn Region.

"Rayquaza." Red said out loud. They all knew this Pokémon very well, it was a Pokémon living in the ozone layer, protecting the Earth from intruders, however this monster found it very difficult to differentiate friend from foe and would sometimes attack satellites and space stations. Fortunately, there was only one of this kind of Pokémon so attacks were quite rare.

"If Rayquaza stays in the ozone layer, then what does it have to do with a pillar scraping the surface of the world?" Ash asked.

"Scrape the surface of the world" May repeated to herself, "like a skyscraper."

"Skyscraper, pillar" Dawn began piecing the two words together before Cynthia finally put it together.

"Sky Pillar." Cynthia answered before explaining Rayquaza's relationship to the pillar, "Once a year Rayquaza must return to Sky Pillar to rest and regain its strength before it spends another year in the ozone layer."

"Wait, does this mean that we have to go in and decipher the riddle before Rayquaza gets there?" May asked, fearfully. "If Rayquaza was there, then I guess it wouldn't like having humans get near it."

"Don't worry May" Cynthia reassured, "If my assumption is correct, then Rayquaza won't appear at Sky Pillar for several months."

"I've been to Sky Pillar" Red commented, "So I know how to get there."

"All right then Red, lead the way." Brock said triumphantly. However, while Cynthia was proud they knew where the next riddle was, she still had something else on her mind that would shape the course of the next several weeks.

"Brock wait, there's a problem" Cynthia explained, "There is something else out there, something that Giratina wants more."


	4. Time-Space Orbs

"What is it that Giratina wants?" Ash asked worried and angered.

"After the attack in Arrowroot Town, I looked in their hall of records and found ancient scrolls that depicted the Three Creation Orbs; the Adamant Orb, the Lustrous Orb and the Griseous Orb." Cynthia responded.

"What're the Creation Orbs?" May asked.

"They're three orbs created by Arceus at the same time as he created the Creation Trio." Cynthia answered.

"Why does Giratina want the orbs?" Dawn asked, "What can they give him?"

"Each orb gives its rightful master a special power." Cynthia explained, "The Adamant Orb gives Dialga the power to turn back, push forward, or stop time. The Lustrous Orb let's Palkia teleport entire cities across space and change the gravity in specific environments. The Griseous Orb creates an antimatter field around Giratina, reverting him to his Original form and protecting him from almost all Pokémon attacks."

"Original Form?" Red asked the Champion.

"When Giratina enters this world he takes on what is known as his Altered Form, in this form he's as powerful as Dialga and Palkia" Cynthia answered, "While he's in the Distortion World, there is enough Antimatter there for him to stay in his Original Form, which is a lot more powerful than his Altered Form."

"Does this mean he'll be stronger than Arceus?" May asked fearfully. Without his divine powers there to give him and advantage, then Giratina could win the oncoming battle against his father. This realization only made May all the more afraid of finding the Palace of Light.

"No one has ever seen Giratina in his Original Form so no one knows if he will be or not." Cynthia explained, "But I'd rather not find out."

"We can't let him get the orb." Brock said "Does he have it?"

"No" Cynthia answered, relieved, "It's been hidden away in Stark Mountain where Giratina can't find it."

They had all heard of Stark Mountain, a volcano in the Sinnoh Region that was as old as the region itself. Fortunately, according to geologists the volcano had been dormant for at least a thousand years. But in its day it was very dangerous, records showed that it would go off at least once a month and each time it did, the eruption was as horrible as the Mount St Helens eruption.

"We have to get the Griseous Orb, before Giratina finds out where it is." Ash declared.

"But we have to find the next monument, we've already lost a lot of time." Dawn responded.

"But if Giratina gets the orb then Arceus won't have an advantage." May argued forcefully.

"There won't be an Arceus if we don't go to Sky Pillar." Brock protested.

"Enough!" Red shouted, aggravated by their arguing when time was already short. His shout of anger was joined by and electric blast into the air by Pika.

"Red's right." Cynthia commented, "I say we divide into two groups, one finds the Griseous Orb and the other finds the next monument. Once we find the Orb, we'll call you and meet at a specified location."

"Where should we meet?" May asked.

"We'll decide that after we've each completed our tasks." Ash answered.

"Right" Cynthia commented before dividing the six into two groups, "Ash, May and myself will go to Stark Mountain to find the Griseous Orb."

"I'll lead Dawn and Brock to Sky Pillar." Red finished.

"This is a race we absolutely can't afford to lose." Cynthia warned, "Good luck to us all."

The six trainers all looked at one another, dividing like this was a great and risky gamble. If they were separate then their strength was cut in half and they would be easier prey to the Dark Antimon. United they stand, divided they fall.

From outside a window on the side of the Pokémon Center, the Team Rocket trio watched the trainers make their plans.

"Now what do we do?" Jessie complained, "Now that they've divided their ranks, we have no way of following them."

"Yes we do, Corn Head." Meowth spat back, "The blue haired twerp is the one who's going to wake up Arceus, so she's the one we're following."

"But if the twerps are splitting up maybe we should to." James offered.

"Yeah" Jessie answered out loud, "You two go after the blue haired twerp and I'll go after the twerp with a Pikachu to help find the Gracious Orb."

"It's called the Griseous Orb, Carrot head." Meowth responded rudely.

"Are you going to call us every vegetable in the garden?" James commented.


	5. Professor Oak's bane

As the Trainers divided their ranks, another conflict was looming. Far from their location, in Professor Oak's Laboratory, in Pallet Town, conflict had erupted. Professor Oak had lost something very important and if it was not found, it could have disastrous consequences.

At the same time Ash's mother, Delia Ketchum, was walking to the laboratory. She had not seen her old mentor in quite some time and was looking forward to giving the Professor a surprise visit. She had even baked an apple pie for Professor Oak and was carrying it in a picnic basket. It was his favorite dessert and was upset because he never was able to bake it as well as Delia could. When he asked her for the recipe, she said with truth that she had no special recipe.

"Hello Professor Oak." Delia greeted as she opened the door to his Laboratory. Oak's response was nothing like she expected.

"Quick Delia! Shut the door! Shut the door!" Oak shouted to her. Frantically, Delia shut the door behind her and locked it.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Delia asked nervously, "You're scaring me."

"Charizard's missing." Professor Oak explained, "Tracey and I have torn the laboratory apart looking for him."

Delia looked around, Professor Oak was right, the lab looked like it was hit by several tornadoes at the same time. Desks were turned over and papers were strewn across the floor, it was a total mess.

"You tore apart the whole lab looking for him, how well is he hiding?" Delia asked rhetorically, smiling.

"He's a seven foot tall dragon with giant blue wings and a flaming tail." Professor Oak responded, "He shouldn't be that hard to find."

At that same time, Professor Oak's research assistant, Tracey Sketchit, was just returning into the lab from the Pokémon Corral fields behind the lab.

"Well, Charizard isn't out in the fields." Tracey confirmed as he reentered the building, "Maybe Charizard went back to the Valley he trained in to sharpen his skills."

"I doubt it, Liza already said he was the strongest Charizard she had seen there since the Bull Charizard." Professor Oak denied.

Liza told Professor Oak about a ten foot tall super powerful Charizard that stayed in the Charicific Valley for several weeks to hone his fighting skills. Those few weeks was all it took for this Pokémon to become the most powerful Charizard Liza had yet seen. Unfortunately, this Bull Charizard often reacted violently towards the other male Charizards which was why he couldn't stay for very long.

"Wherever he is, I just hope Ash doesn't find out he's gone." Delia concluded, "If Ash finds out then we could be in serious trouble."


	6. Test of Loyalty

Deep in the heart of the Distortion World, Giratina hovered around the Mega Crystal from which he watched the human world. He gave Darkrai orders to return to this god forsaken world after he sent Kyurem on his mission. Silently, Giratina waited for his loyal assassin to return to him for another command.

His waiting came to an end as a portal between worlds opened and Darkrai hovered through, shocked to see Giratina awaiting him at the Mega Crystal as opposed to the Cavern of the Dark Pokémon where he normally dwelled.

The cold look in Giratina's glowing red eyes did not change when Darkrai appeared through the portal. The Pitch Black Pokémon knew what this face meant and for the first time in a thousand years he did not fear Giratina.

"Kyurem has agreed to my terms." Giratina said, knowing what Darkrai was going to say based on the expression he wore on his face.

"Yes, but there is more." Darkrai explained, "The Priestess has discovered the Griseous Orb and one of the Sacred Knights is looking for it, accompanied by two others."

"So the Orb is still alive." Giratina said to himself, "And so is the Brotherhood of the Sacred Knights."

Darkrai had not told his master about there being Sacred Knights accompanying the Guardian Priestess. Giratina was astonished to hear that they were still alive. But then he realized they were chosen by Arceus just as the Guardian Priestess was. Clearly his father was not taking any chances with him.

"I will send Kyurem to go after her allies to stop them." Darkrai offered.

"No" Giratina responded cold and silently, "Kyurem will continue to pursue the Priestess, I will see to the Sacred Knight myself."

"What is your command for me master?" Darkrai asked.

"Stay to the shadows and await my command." Giratina ordered in a very authoritative voice. With a single nod of his head, Darkrai descended into the shadow zone and raced across the ground.

Giratina stared at the Mega Crystal even more so. This massive object at the centre of the Distortion World would become imperative to his plans to come. A few seconds later, Giratina took his glowing red eyes away from the Mega Crystal to fly towards a smaller crystal formation on a distant land formation. This one built as a prison, keeping the human girl Misty captive.

The crystal formation did not completely entomb Misty's body. Merely her arms and legs were trapped under crystal. She hanged vertically from the formation, unconscious and barely alive. If she was conscious at this time, she would be the first person to see Giratina in a thousand years and live.

The Renegade Pokémon knew what was to happen next. In time, he would have the Griseous Orb and his true power would return to him after a thousand years. Once the orb was his, the Shadowy Pokémon of legend would have the power he needed to return to the Pokémon World and lead his armies against humans and Pokémon, unmatched and undefeatable against any Pokémon.

"You will be vital to my ultimate test." Giratina said to the helpless human girl. "It is time to see how loyal your friends truly are Priestess."


	7. Tears

Three days of travelling by boat, Ash and his team members had returned to the Sinnoh Region, this time they were on the island northeast of the actual landmass that made majority of the region. It was on this island that Stark Mountain laid dormant on. Cynthia said she knew of a shortcut that would take them to the volcano quicker. This shortcut would end up taking the three travelers through the forests around the various resorts.

As the sun set over the tropical trees of the forest, Ash, May and Cynthia decided it would be best for them to stop their trek to the flaming mountain and rest for the night. The trainers and the champion found a small clearing in the forest from which they could set up a camp.

None of them said anything since they departed the boat and arrived on the island. May was too afraid to voice her opinions, which was a first. Cynthia had nothing important to say since notifying the tow young trainer of her shortcut to Stark Mountain.

Ash was still grieving over Misty, every part of him said that it was his fault what happened. He remembered all the great time she spent with her, their travels, their battles, all of them had a special place in his heart. But out of all the memories he had of her, the one he loved most was the final kiss they shared before she disappeared into the Distortion World.

"I want to see her again, I want to hold her again." Ash groaned, "Now I'll never be able to feel her soft and warm skin, or the joy of being close to her."

Ash opened his heart and began sorrowfully singing.

_How will I start tomorrow without you here?  
Whose heart will guide me? All the answers disappear!  
Is it too late? Are you too far gone to stay?  
Best friends forever, should never have to go away!_

_What will I do? You know I'm only half without you!  
How will I make it through?_

_If only tears could bring you back to me,  
If only love could find a way...  
What I would do, what I would give if you  
Return to me, someday, somehow, someway...  
If my tears could bring you back to me..._

_I'd cry you an ocean if you'd sail on home again,  
Waves of emotion will carry you I know they can!  
Just let love guide you and your heart will chart the course,  
Soon you'll be drifting to the arms of your true north!_

_Look in my eyes, you'll see a million tears have gone by,  
And still they're not dry!_

_If only tears could bring you back to me,  
If only love could find a way...  
What I would do, what I would give if you  
Return to me, someday, somehow, someway...  
If my tears could bring you back to me..._

_I hold you close and shout the words I only whispered before  
For one more chance, for one last dance  
There's not a pain that I would not endure_

_If only tears could bring you back to me,  
If only love could find a way...  
What I would do, what I would give if you  
Return to me, someday, somehow, someway...  
If my tears could bring you back to me..._

"You're still thinking about Misty aren't you." Cynthia inferred.

"How can I not think about her." Ash remarked, "I can't sleep, every time I try to sleep, I see her looking at me, heartbroken and disgusted by me."

"You can't let it haunt you." Cynthia commented.

"How?" Ash asked with a heavy voice, "I brought this on her, I promised her that I would keep her safe and I failed, I let that monster drag her into his prison."

"You, Misty and the others are waging war against one of the creators of the universe, did you think something like this wouldn't happen?" Cynthia answered, "Now this is the true test of how much you love her. You can either give up now or keep going, fighting the battle the two of you started and see it through to the end."

"Have you ever lost anybody Cynthia?" Ash asked, wondering how she could know so much about coping with loss. Cynthia looked at Ash, after two seconds she answered him.

"Yes." She replied.

"Who was it?" Ash asked. Suddenly the trainer was not feeling as much pain, not now that he knew he was not alone in feeling anguish.

"My mother." Cynthia answered, "She was beautiful in her body and heart. She disappeared when I was very young, my grandmother raised me. I'll never forget her face, and her gifts."

The two stopped when Ash realized something very wrong about their camp.

"Wait a minute, Cynthia where's May?"


	8. Abandonment

May was out in the forest taking a small walk, looking for berries to eat. Brock had showed her which berries humans could eat and which one only Pokémon could eat. Unfortunately, the berries for humans were very rare and it took her deep into the forest.

This long search through the forest gave May plenty of time for her to think. When she first began her Pokémon journey years ago she was reluctant. She was no fan of taking care of Pokémon, she saw them as intimidating due to an incident as a child. What she was only looking forward to was the chance to travel and explore new places. Over the course of several days May grew to love Pokémon as much as Ash did, whom showed her how to be a good trainer. Although her view of Pokémon changed, her love of travel did not change at all in her time.

The last two months were the only time where her joy of travelling had undergone any kind of change. The evil that turned her and her friends into prey made her afraid to travel. Her enemies could be anywhere, waiting to ambush them. This was a force of evil they had never faced before, driven by a greater dark force bent on destroying all life in the universe. This would mean that everyone in the world was in great peril.

May could not handle being this afraid, it wasn't fair for her to be afraid of waking up everyday knowing there was something evil after them. Why did fate have to choose her to be a part of this quest, why did she have to be a part of this mission?

May's thoughts were cut off by a sound coming from deep in the forest. It sounded like a whisper, calling her name. Curious as to what the sound was, May ventured into the forest, aware of the growing shadows around her.

_May_

"Who's there?" May called out.

_May_

"Ash if this is you isn't not funny!" May shouted in fear and anger.

_May_

Terror stricken, May's instincts told her to run through the pitch black forest. She did not hold back following her instincts.

"I'm serious Ash, cut it out!" May shouted as she ran through the heart of the forest, unaware of the tree in front of her. She collided with the tree with enough force to be sent back and she fell to the ground.

As May began to recover, two red glowing spheres gazed down at her from the darkness around her. Based on their distance from one another and the fact that they were perfectly level, she realized they were eyes.

"Evil is in everything, and where that evil is, so to shall I" A dark rumbling voice said to her. The Hoenn born coordinator then realized whose eyes and voice they were and scrambled to get back to her feet.

"I know it's you Giratina, I'm not afraid." May responded with great uncertainty in her voice. The eyes continued to follow her as she slowly stepped back.

"Even the blackest shadows cannot hide your greatest fears." Giratina continued, "Fear for the truth."

"What truth? I don't know what you're talking about" May protested.

"Do not try to deceive me." Giratina responded fiercely, "You fear that you will not live to reach your destiny, and you know it's true."

May was mortified to hear Giratina speak her fears. The worst part was that he was right. This was her greatest fear, and if Misty could be lost so easily, how easy would it be for her to be suffer the same fate, maybe worse.

"Okay, so I might not" May protested, "But Dawn will."

"And when she does, she will die in agony." Giratina informed, "Bring me the Priestess May, and she will not have to suffer this fate."

May was faced with a grim decision. If Giratina was right, then Dawn would be walking into great pain and be unaware of it. However, if Giratina had her then her death could possibly be slower and more agonizing.

"No" May answered, "I won't betray Dawn."

"You betray her even more so if you refuse to tell her" Giratina responded coldly, "If you wish to see Arceus awakened and your world spared, then she must perish. So it is written by her sisters."

May couldn't stay and listen to this Pokémon any longer, she turned and ran in the opposite direction she came from. Creating as much noise as she could to ensure she could not hear Giratina's voice.

"Choose wisely." Giratina called out to her as she kept running.

She refused to look back, her fear prevented her from seeing if Giratina was after her. Unfortunately, her charging through the forest, blinded her from the environment around her, and she ended up ramming into Ash. Both trainer scrambled to recover to get back to their feet. Once May got to her feet, she could see that she was reunited with her friends.

"Are you alright Ash?" Cynthia asked as she walked up to both of them.

"I'm fine Cynthia, what were you running from May?" Ash asked May as she looked at both the humans and Pokémon around her.

"I thought you were going to get berries." Cynthia remarked.

It was now or never, May had to tell them that she saw Giratina, and he told her that Dawn would die upon reaching the Palace. But they would never believe her, or worse they would panic. If the Renegade Pokémon was right, then she also would not bare to see her friend be killed by Heaven knows what, she just couldn't bring herself to think about what was waiting to end Dawn's life.

"Guys, I have to tell you something." May confessed twiddling her fingers.

"What is it May?" Ash asked.

"What's wrong?" Cynthia asked as well. May couldn't take it anymore and she blurted it out.

"I can't, I can't keep going." Both Ash and Cynthia looked at her with shock and distain.

"What?" Ash asked.

"What did you see?" Cynthia asked, knowing something was wrong with May.

"I can't tell you." May answered silently.

"Perfect, just perfect" Ash commented angrily, "You're running out on us just because you're afraid?"

"I have my own reasons!" May shouted back trying to hold back the tears, "I quit, just keep going without me!"

May turned and looked at her Skitty who was looking up at her. The small Pokémon wanted to go with her, but didn't know if May would allow it.

"Let's go Skitty." May said. Skitty took off on all four legs, following close behind May.

Ash felt both pity and anger towards May for walking out on them when she knew that their mission was so important. But if this was her choice then he's live with it, but he would not longer have any respect for her.

"Okay May, you can leave." Ash said to her as she walked away, "But just know that while you're running away, we'll be fighting the battle you ran from."

May continued walking away from the campsite with Skitty walking close behind. As May kept going she wiped the tears from her face, hating herself for running from her friends out of cowardice. At the same time, Skitty found a bizarre stone in the ground. The stone was orange and had a very twisted shape in the center which intrigued the young Pokémon. Skitty thought its unique shape and color would make it a fine gift for May to make her feel better, and the Pokémon ran in front of May and handed it to her.

"Thank you Skitty." May commented.

As May walked through the forest, Jessie watched her walk through the forest with her head held low in depression. Jessie had heard every word of her argument with Ash and Cynthia and was shocked to see Ash so angry at anyone, especially, one of his friends.

"Ouch, that had to hurt." Jessie commented to herself.


	9. Dark of the night

Back in the Distortion World, Giratina watched as May left her friends. As he presumed, the Guardian Priestess' friends were not as loyal as she presumed they were. But the Renegade Pokémon was fed up with the constant failures of his Anitmon, but he realized what had to be done. As he began tampering with the vat of the corrupted antimatter, Kyurem entered the Distortion World through the portal in the Mega Crystal.

"Giratina" Kyurem said, to get his master's attention, "You want me to hunt down a Guardian Priestess."

"You have always been my most effective hunter" Giratina commented, "Now this is the ultimate test of your skills, bring her to me before she arrives at Sky Pillar."

"Had you not summoned me to your dungeon" Kyurem commented cruelly, "I would have her by now."

"You shall not hunt her alone." Giratina commanded, "She is well protected, you will need servants."

"Then assemble your armada and I will find her." Kyurem argued.

"My children have failed me continually since they reawakened" Giratina explained, before turning to face his reluctant servant, "Now I see the truth, if the human race has evolved so to shall I."

Giratina reared his long snake form up, making himself look larger and more powerful to Kyurem. The Renegade Pokémon splayed out his six tentacles and began to assert his true dominance.

"Soon my wretched curse will be lifted, and when I return to the human world, I will reshape it in my image!" Giratina declared with a deep and powerful voice before lowering his body to face Kyurem.

_In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning  
And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be -  
It scared me out of my wits -  
A corpse falling to bits!  
Then I opened my eyes  
And the nightmare was...me!_

_I was once the most powerful force in all the world.  
When my brothers betrayed me they made a mistake!  
My curse made each of them pay  
But one little girl got away!  
Little Dawn, beware,  
Giratina's awake!_

In an instant dozens of Ghastly and Haunters rose out from the shadows to join in the number.

_In the dark of the night evil will find her  
In the dark of the night just before dawn!_

**Giratina**_: Revenge will be sweet_

**Giratina, Ghastly and Haunters**_: When the curse is complete!_

**Ghastly and Haunters**_: In the dark of the night_

**Giratina:** _She'll be gone!_

_I can feel that my powers are slowly returning!  
Tie my sash and a dash of cologne for that smell!  
As the pieces fall into place  
I'll see her crawl into place!  
Do Svidaniya, Dawn, Your Grace!  
Farewell..._

The Renegade Pokémon turned and began flying towards the Cavern of the Antimon, with Kyurem and the Ghost Pokémon flying close behind him.

**Ghastly and Haunters:** _In the dark of the night terror will strike her!_

**Giratina:** _Terror's the least I can do!_

**Ghastly and Haunters:** _In the dark of the night evil will brew._

**Giratina:** _Soon she will feel that her nightmares are real._

**Ghastly and Haunters:** _In the dark of the night_

**Giratina:**_She'll be through!_

**Ghastly and Haunters:**_In the dark of the night  
Evil will find her_

**Gengar:** _Find her!_

**Ghastly and Haunters:** _In the dark of the night terror comes true._

**Gengar:** _Doom her!_

**Giratina:** _My dear, here's a sign -_

**Giratina, Ghastly and Haunters:** _It's the end of the line!_

**Ghastly and Haunters:**_In the dark of the night...  
In the dark of the night..._

**Giratina: **_Come my minions,  
Rise for your master,  
Let your evil shine!_

With a blast of dark energy, erupting from the pool of the essence, nine Antimon rose out of the pool. But they were different, they had taken on the shapes of the Legendary Birds and Beasts trio as well as the Force of Nature trio. They looked the same as the legendary Pokémon they mimicked with several exceptions, they were a much duller color than before and their eyes glowed a dark emotionless orange.

_Find her now,  
Yes, fly ever faster_

The nine Dark Legendaries followed Kyurem through the portal back to the human world bent on hunting the Guardian Priestess. But when they passed through, the Legendary Beasts turned and began running in a different direction, given different orders by Giratina to go after a different prize.__

**Ghastly and Haunters:** _In the dark of the night...  
In the dark of the night...  
In the dark of the night..._

**Giratina**_: She'll be mine!_


	10. Invincibility

Under the light of the setting sun; Red, Dawn and Brock made camp in the forests. They had spent days travelling, fortunately the Pokémon Center Red was recovering in was already in the Hoenn region so they did not have as far to travel as Ash and the others did.

As the day came to its end, Brock was preparing their dinner while Dawn was reading from ancient scrolls, given to her by Cynthia, that detailed the Guardian Priestess' and the Platinum Wars. The more Dawn read the scrolls, the more horrified she became. She knew Giratina was cruel, but she had no idea he was as cruel as how the scrolls detailed him.

"According to the scrolls; during the Platinum Wars, Giratina wiped out half the Pokémon in the world." Dawn read out loud, "and three quarters of the human race."

Brock looked up from his stewing pot in horror at the thought of any Pokémon, or any creature, being that evil. Red on the other hand, did not bat an eye. He was afraid of Giratina, but he learned that he cannot show any kind of fear otherwise his enemies would use it against him.

"All the more reason, why he must be stopped." Red confirmed.

"Giratina killed all the other Guardian Priestess' before the war even began!" Dawn shouted in fear, "They spent years practicing their powers, I've had only two and a half months to practice my powers."

"There's nothing wrong with taking things slowly Dawn." Brock offered.

"Taking things slow?" Dawn asked Brock, "How many girls have said that to you?"

Brock looked at Dawn, surprised the young Priestess would say something so cruel to him.

"Ow." Brock commented harshly.

"But he's right." Red added, "Nothing's wrong with going your pace."

"There is, if the fate of the universe is in your hands." Dawn argued.

"If you rush through your training then you could miss something important." Brock warned, "It's just like training a Pokémon, you have to go at the pace that best works for them, this time your training you."

"Yeah well I've never been a great trainer." Dawn argued.

"That is a matter of perspective" Red commented as he sat down next to her on a fallen log.

"Matter of perspective" Dawn mockingly said before standing up to confront Red, "What does your perspective count for compared to mine? You're Red! the greatest Pokémon Trainer the world will ever know! You make Cynthia look like a Trainer school teacher! Trainers all over the world look up to you as a hero and their right, you're invincible! What chance does a mortal like me have against someone as powerful as you?"

As far as Red knew, Dawn truly did believe he was invincible. But his past would prove otherwise. He was indeed the most powerful trainer on Earth, but that would not come without rigorous tests of his will and strength, or great sacrifice.

"If I was invincible, then I would not feel any emotion, no regret for my past, or the will to keep you safe." Red growled, "Be happy you're mortal, so that you can feel."


	11. May's Visitors

The night was young and May had been travelling without stop. She finally reached the outskirts of her hometown, Petalburg City. She was exhausted from travelling such a great distance. An hour ago, May used her Pokégear to contact her father, gym leader of Petalburg city Norman, that she would be returning home. Unfortunately she had no alibi as to why she would be returning home alone, which made her father suspicious.

That wasn't on her mind at that moment, May was still full of self loathing for running out on her friends. There was still no guarantee that she would live for much longer even if she stayed with them. Besides if what Giratina told her was true, and Dawn would die in agony upon reaching the Palace of Light, then May would not want to be there to see. Even though it pained her to do this, running away sounded like the most logical choice. May walked down the sidewalk, her head hanging over her shoulders in sorrow.

Finally May reached her home. As she walked up the walkway and to her door, she could see that Norman and her brother Max were standing at the open doorway. Max was ten years old, but had only started his Pokémon journey just three weeks earlier. He picked a Treeko, and had already collected two Pokémon Gym Badges. His great advances over such a short period were thanks to the knowledge he gathered while travelling with his sister and Ash four years earlier. Max prided himself on knowing that he was further along than May was when she began her journey, and more often than not brought it out when talking to his sister.

"May, it's great to see you again." Norman greeted to his daughter.

"Dad" was all May said before she ran to her father's waiting arms with tears in her eyes. Norman was surprised to see May in such a depressed state.

"Wait a minute May" Max asked directly, "Where's Ash and Brock and the girls."

May had no way to explain to her brother or her father that she ran off, let alone explain the objective of her friends' mission. Her best idea would be to mention one small part of the mission and then let the rest of the story play out from there, and she knew just what to mention.

"We got separated" May explained, "after our run in with the Antimon."

"Antimon?" Norman asked out loud.

"Is that a lame Team Rocket gadget?" Max asked May, hoping to show her up by making Team Rocket seem even more foolish.

"Not exactly" May responded, not looking up from the ground. Norman knew that if his daughter was this afraid to talk about something, then it had to be serious.

"May, what's an Antimon?" Norman asked sternly.

His answer came to him with an earthquake that shook the entire neighborhood, coupled with an explosion that erupted from the streets in front of the house. Rising out from the flaming crater in the earth were the Anti Entei, Raikou and Suicune that departed the Distortion World separate from Kyurem's armada. The three fake beasts slowly approached with their heads held low, this was a sign, they were readying to attack.

"Those" May addressed the Antimon before her with great terror, "But they couldn't become Legendary Pokémon before."

"That's not going to stop us." Norman declared boldly. Max grabbed a PokéBall off his belt and released the Pokémon within it.

"Golem use Magnitude!" Max commanded his Pokémon. The heavyweight Pokémon leapt into the air and struck its fist into the ground. The impact from its fist into the ground triggered a massive earthquake that tossed the rock debris, from the Antimon's violent entrance, into the air, before they came crashing down on the evil creatures, engulfing them in the earth.

"We got them!" Max declared triumphantly.

Max and Norman smiled, it was their proud assumption that the Antimon were eliminated. May on the other hand was not so joyous. She knew that Antimon were not so easily destroyed.

"It's not over yet Max." May warned terrified.

At that moment, the rocks began to shift and tumble off the mount as the Dark Beasts rose out, seeming unscathed from the attack. Norman stepped in front of Max holding a PokéBall in his hand.

"Let me take care of this Max." Norman commented.

"Go Slaking!" Norman commanded as he opened the PokéBall releasing the large sloth like Pokémon. Slaking glared at the Antimon, shouting into the air to intimidate them.

"Slaking, use Hyper Beam!" Norman instructed. Slaking opened its mouth and unleashed a glowing orange beam, the beam flew through the air, on a collision course with the Anti Entei. However, the large Antimon moved quicker. It leapt into the air, dodging the attack before landing on top of Slaking, with one massive paw pinning the real Pokémon to the ground.

The Anti Entei opened its mouth over the downed Slaking. Every human and Pokémon watching expected the monster to dispatch the helpless Pokémon with its massive fangs. Instead, three tongue like appendages came out of the Antimon's mouth and wrapped themselves around Slaking's arms and neck. Slaking began to glow purple and slowly this glow began to fade. At the same time a purple glow began to develop around the Anti Entei at the same time as Slaking's glow was beginning to fade. Eventually, Slaking's glow was nonexistent and the Pokémon lapsed into unconsciousness. The Anti Entei's tongues unraveled from around Slaking and slid back into its mouth.

"Slaking, Return!" Norman shouted as he called the unconscious Pokémon back to its PokéBall.

"What was that?" May asked in terror, she had never seen an Antimon capable of doing that. In the past she had only seen them use a Shadow Beam attack, and venom in combat.

"It looked like it was some kind of Giga Drain" Max deduced.

"But more painful to Slaking." Norman concluded.

"That won't happen again, go Grovyle!" Max shouted as he released his newly evolved Pokémon to attack. Grovyle glared across the battlefield, waiting for Max to tell it which Antimon to attack.

"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade on the Entei thing!" Max commanded. Grovyle leapt into the air, the leaves on its forearms began to glow as it zeroed in on the Anti Entei.

Surprisingly, it was not the Anti Entei that reacted, it was the Anti Suicune. The Anti Suicune's eyes began to glow a deep, evil red. Then a continual beam of red rings shot out of its eyes that struck Grovyle right in his chest. The Pokémon veered off course and fell to the ground. Once Grovyle got back to its feet, it looked around at all the beings around it with great terror, terror that hadn't been there before.

"Grovyle use Razor Leaf!" Max ordered. Grovyle seemed to terrified to be able to listen to its trainer.

"What's wrong Grovyle?" Max asked his Pokémon.

"It looks like Grovyle's trapped in some kind of fear inducing illusion." Norman theorized. At the same time, May had come to a theory of her own as to why the Antimon were here, that was all too terrifying to her.

"They want me." May said to herself.

"What do you mean?" Norman asked his daughter.

"They've come here for me." May explained much to her horror, "I know too much about what they are and where they came from. Now their creator sent them after me!"

"Then get inside now May." Norman ordered, "you to Max!"

Both of Norman's children looked at him with great fear in their eyes. These monsters seemed indestructible, their father would never be able to stop them on his own.

"We can't leave you Dad!" Max defied.

"I'll be fine Max just get inside now." Norman reasoned. Without any other options, May and her little brother ran back into the house.

From outside, they could hear the roaring of the Antimon coupled with the sounds of their father commanding his Pokémon. The roaring and shouting were quickly replaced by the sounds of crackling energy and explosions as purple and orange lights broke through the windows. May and Max sat in the living room with their mother, Caroline. Every one of them was filled with terror and despair, there was very little guarantee that Norman would be able to hold back these super charged Antimon.

"Dad will take them down right Mom?" Max asked horrified Caroline with great fear in his voice.

"I know he will Max." Caroline answered, her voice very uncertain.

May was preoccupied with other matters. Her feelings of terror were quickly replaced with feelings of remorse. She knew Giratina sent the Antimon here for her to ensure she did not live to tell Dawn what he told her. Yet she sat there, fearing for her own life while her father was out there risking his life to protect the family.

"I did this" May whispered to herself, "I lead them here, this is my fault. What have I done?"

At last, May was fed up with running, it was time to take a stand. The young trainer got off the sofa, grabbed her bag and began marching towards the back door.

"May what are you doing?" Caroline asked her daughter as she watched her walk off, "Get back here!"

"This ends now" May said to herself as she closed the door behind her.

When May got to the front of her house, she could see the outcome of her father's battle with the three Antimon. Only his Vigoroth was left and even then, it was outnumbered and outgunned. The three Antimon in front of it didn't seem weakened at all. Now, Norman was not alone, May was there to fight with him.

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!" May commanded as she released Blaziken from its PokéBall. The Pokémon swung its flaming leg forward and kicked the Anti Suicune into the air. While in mid air, May saw the chance to use another attack.

"Blaziken use Mega Kick and aim for the head!" May commanded again. Blaziken leapt into the air and kicked the Dark Suicune in the head and took it clean off. However unlike Antimon before, this creature did not liquefy when its head was gone. Instead, it landed perfectly on its feet and its head grew back. The Anti Suicune glared at Blaziken and growled at it.

"That used to work" May explained to her father.

"I told you to get inside May." Norman scolded his daughter.

"Do you honestly think you can beat these things on your own?" May responded boldly.

"I'm fighting too" Max decided as he ran out through the front and stood beside his father. The three family members stood together bravely, ready to face these monsters head on.

The battle that followed was fierce, both sides proved to be a versatile match for one another. As they battled, May began to question why Giratina would only send three Legendary Pokémon, if he really had found the key to mimicking the most powerful species of Pokémon in the world, why would he only create three and not send them after Dawn. Soon May reached a hypothesis, what if he did create more Anti Legendary Pokémon and they were going after Dawn right now?

"Dad, we're being set up!" May warned her father.

"What do you mean?" Norman asked.

"Giratina sent only a few of them here to keep me busy while he sends the rest after my friends." May explained.

"What's a Giratina? Is it a Pokémon?" Max asked his sister, his love for new Pokémon still had no limits, even if this Pokémon was evil.

"One you'd never want to meet." May answered.

"You have to warn your friends." Norman explained, "we'll cover you."

"Are you sure?" May asked.

"Positive, now go." Norman instructed. Before May left, she had one last command for her Blaziken.

"Stay here and help Max and dad." May commanded. Blaziken simply nodded and leapt forward to stand beside Norman.

"Max is going with you." Norman instructed. Max held no argument, but ran to stand next to his sister. He was happy to get the chance to be a hero like Ash was.

"Let's go Max." May instructed her brother before the two of them began to run down the street. As they ran down the street, Norman and Blaziken fought back against their enemies with great force.

While the Anti Entei and Suicune battled fiercely, the Anti Raikou was the one to notice the human girl running away with allies. Giratina gave them direct orders to destroy the human, May Haruka. Escape was something the mindless beast would not tolerate. The Anti Raikou waited for his prey to get a significant distance before chasing them. As with all Antimon it craved the thrill of the hunt like an illness.

As the Anti Raikou bounded down the streets, Blaziken caught a glimpse of it running after May. It would not let May fall victim to its power, but at the same time it had to help Norman. Blaziken could see that Vigoroth had successfully destroyed the Anti Entei and had the Anti Suicune on the ropes, so abandoning the fight was not as difficult a decision to Blaziken.

May and Max kept running as the Anti Raikou charged after them. Max was the only one to look behind them, only then did he see the terrifying half dead monster chasing after him and his sister down. If his calculations were correct, then he and May only had ten seconds before the Antimon would catch up to them. Slowly, Max began counting down from ten as he and May continued their running, waiting for the Anti Raikou to subdue and dispatch them. As Max counted down, he could hear the growling and the footsteps of the beast that disgraced Raikou's image, getting closer and closer to him and his sister. Judging by the expression on May's face she knew that the Anti Raikou was getting closer to. Max finally reached one, he expected to feel the paws of the Anti Raikou pin his sister and himself to the ground, thus heralding their agonizing deaths. What happened instead, the footsteps and growling of the Anti Raikou stopped and the streets fell silent. The only exception was the cries of triumph from their father coming from the distance.

May, and Max turned around to see that Blaziken had pinned the Anti Raikou to the ground, hoping to give its human friends time to escape.

"Blaziken came to save us" May deduced.

"No kidding, Scotland Yard?" Max responded sarcastically.

The beast born from evil finally kicked Blaziken off its body sending the flaming bird Pokémon spiraling towards the ground. The Anti Raikou got back to its own feet and began to charge at it.

"Blaziken use Flamethrower!" May instructed. Blaziken rolled over to the side facing the Anti Raikou and fired a blast of fire from its mouth that struck the monster, engulfing it in fire. Flames soon ran through the streets until they formed a ring in the centre of the streets.

May, Max and even Blaziken expected the intense heat the flames created to liquefy the Anti Raikou. Instead, the Anti Raikou leapt out of the flaming wall and tackled Blaziken, biting its arm. May was terrified, she remembered the venom of the Antimon, after all she fell victim to its painful effect and would've died were it not for Dawn. Luckily, May also remembered that the venom only had an effect on humans and Blaziken was not showing any sign of the symptoms. But this did not change the fact that Blaziken was at the Anti Raikou's mercy.

"Blaziken use Mega Kick!" May commanded in a desperate measure to get Giratina's servant off her Pokémon.

"It's not good May" Max informed, "That thing has Blaziken's feet pinned, there's no way for it to use Mega Kick of Blaze Kick."

The Anti Raikou glared down at the struggling Pokémon. The monster grinned with joy, all Antimon enjoyed terminating struggling prey. Slowly, the Anti Raikou began to lower its open mouth towards Blaziken's throat.

"Blaziken! No!" May shouted in terror. At that moment, Skitty remembered the colorful stone it found for May, that she put in her backpack. Skitty jumped out of its PokéBall, climbed up towards May's backpack and opened it.

"Skitty what're you doing?" Max asked.

Skitty ignored Max and dug deeper into May's backpack before pulling the stone out and throwing it towards Blaziken's open hand. The kitten Pokémon began to pull on May's backpack as a sign for her to step back. May grabbed Max's shoulder as she stepped back pulling him in her direction.

Blaziken began to feel great strength flowing through its body. It's form began to glow brighter and brighter, before long, May and Max couldn't even make out the Pokémon's form. Even the Anti Raikou began to feel fear, it knew what this glow meant and hoped to its master that it wasn't happening.

"Blaziken, what's happening to you?" May asked.


	12. Remember you

On the far end of the Hoenn Region, Red and his companions were taking a break from their journey to Sky Pillar to sleep. The forest around them had fallen silent, with the exception of the quiet calls of nocturnal Pokémon around them. Each trainer and Pokémon was sleeping peacefully, except for one trainer.

Dawn could not sleep, she sat in her tent thinking back on how her journey started out and how it turned so dark and dangerous.

When she first began her quest, there was little to nothing she had to be afraid of. Following a week of their travelling, Giratina's Antimon attacked them and May was almost poisoned by them. In the weeks that followed, Dawn was taken prisoner by Team Galactic, Red nearly died trying to keep her safe and Misty was pulled into the Distortion World by Giratina. Now she discovered that if her friends sacrificed themselves, them she could not heal them. What disaster would happen next that would threaten her friends

Luck would not always be on Dawn's friends side and she knew it. It was only a matter of time before Dawn would start losing her friends to death. She knew that this would indeed happen if they kept following her. There was only one thing she could do to protect them. She had to abandon her friends and Pokémon and keep going on her own.

"I just hope they'll forgive me" Dawn said as she got dressed and crawled out of her tent. Silently, Dawn stepped onto the grass and began creeping past the sleeping Pokémon around her and into the forest.

Once she entered the dense forest, Dawn took one final look back at where Brock and Red slept with their Pokémon. There was nothing she believed she could say about how much her friends, especially Red, meant to her. As she walked through the forest, Dawn began to think back on all the joyous moments she and her friends shared, and began to sing about it.

_I'll always remember you  
Carry your dreams  
Until they come true  
Each breath that I take  
Each moment away  
I'll always remember you_

_Everywhere I walk, I see your shadow  
And when I close my eyes, I see your face  
Every song I sing, I hear your melody  
Because not a moment that goes by  
And you're not on my mind_

_You will always be my hero  
Never scared, braver than us all  
Guiding light for me to follow  
Always showing me the way  
Right beside me every day_

_I'll always remember you  
Carry your dreams  
Until they come true  
Each breath that I take  
Each moment away  
I'll always remember you_

_Oh oh yeah, I remember  
Hey yes yes, I remember_

_Oh, for the sacrifice you made  
And all the gifts you gave_

_I'll always remember you  
Carry your dreams  
Until they come true  
Each breath that I take  
Each moment away  
I'll always remember you you you_

_I'll always remember you  
I'll carry your dreams  
Until they come true  
Each breath that I take  
Each moment away  
I'll always remember  
Always remember  
I'll always remember you_

Her song ended, Dawn continued walking through the forest, continually she had to wipe the tears from her eyes. There was no guarantee that she would return, but at least she would know her friends would not be in the same danger she would be, that eased the pain.

Suddenly, Dawn's departure was stopped by a sound coming from the centre of the forest. She wasn't sure but it sounded like someone, or something, calling her name. The young Priestess was unsure as to what this was. It could be a trap set by Darkrai or it could be something of grave importance. Carefully, Dawn began to follow the sound of her name echoing through the forest.

_Dawn_

_Dawn_

_Dawn_

The young girl finally reached where her name was coming from, a small clearing in the middle of the forest. To her surprise, there were no Pokémon or human there. All there was, was a tree a frozen tree. It was impossible for a tree to be completely frozen, especially in Hoenn during the summer. To ensure this was no trick, Dawn carefully grabbed one of the icicles hanging off one of the low branches. To her amazement, it wouldn't break off and it wasn't cold. When Dawn pulled her hand back, she was astounded to see her hand wasn't wet or cold at all.

_Dawn_

Her name came called out one final time, this time from everywhere. Finally the answer came to her, Dawn looked at the frozen tree and realized that it was the tree that was calling her. After finally figuring it out, the same powerful voice that called out to her again.

"Remove your boots, for this place in which you stand is holy ground."

Dawn looked down at her feet and saw that rocks were being pushed out of the clearing and back into the forest by a mysterious force.

"Who are you?" Dawn asked the voice around her.

"I am, that I am" The voice answered her. This only made her more confused.

"I don't understand" Dawn explained.

"I am the god of all around you, from the moon and the stars and the Earth itself, for I am all of that, and all of that is me." The voice explained. At that moment, Dawn realized who she was talking to, Arceus himself. Frantically, Dawn began to pull of her boots upon realizing who summoned her, her master.

"Why have I been called here?" Dawn asked Arceus.

"Though my body sleeps, my mind and soul are free to roam, and I have seen the sacrifices your friends have made to protect you" Arceus explained, "But you have also seen the horror that my son is capable of. Giratina's thirst for suffering will never be quenched until he has killed all that I love. I must strike him down, but I must be awakened. Freeing me is the task that I have bequeathed unto you, you must succeed."

Dawn was surprised to see that Arceus was pushing her quest on her. If he really had been watching her, then he could see that she was failing to find out what it took for her to be a Priestess?

"But Arceus, you said that I had to unlock something that made me unique to reach my full power, but look at me there's nothing that makes me special, I'm just an average human with nothing special." Dawn protested, "You've chosen the wrong girl to be a Priestess."

"WHOM CHOSE YOU FROM AMONG THE MANY!, Arceus shouted back to her in a powerful voice. His voice was so full of force that it sent her flying to the ground, "WERE IT NOT I? NOW GO!"

Suddenly, Dawn felt herself being gently lifted to her feet by a mysterious force. Suddenly Arceus' voice went from powerful and furious, to gentle and soft.

"I know you are afraid Dawn, but do not. There is greatness inside of you, do not doubt that. Reach within yourself young one, find your true heart, and you shall do my wonders. Once you have found your true heart, then you will find the power to awaken me. And upon awakening, I shall stretch out my thousand hands and smite Giratina with all my wonders, this I swear."

In a blinding flash of light, the tree had thawed and Arceus' voice faded into the darkness. Brimming with sudden self confidence, Dawn pulled her boots back on and raced back to the camp, ready to face any challenge that laid ahead of her. She was a Guardian Priestess, there was nothing she couldn't do.

As she walked through the forest, Dawn could have no idea she was being watched from the skies by glowing yellow eyes. Kyurem gazed down at her, watching the direction she would be walking in, notifying him where her little human allies were. Slowly, the Priestess was falling right into his trap.


	13. The Griseous Orb

The sun had barely risen when Ash and Pikachu began marching towards Stark Mountain with help from Cynthia. At this time of day, very little light touched down to Earth, every tree, every bush in the forest was silhouetted. Their early investigation was deliberate, it would be better to get an early start before the Dark Pokémon got there first. Unfortunately this came at a disadvantage, because the sun had not fully arose there was not enough light for them to see what was ahead of them as they marched through the forest.

As they kept going, Ash had only one thing on his mind. He had to find the Griseous Orb and destroy it to ensure that Misty's sacrifice was not in vain. Lost in thought, Ash failed to see that he and Pikachu were trailing away from Cynthia in the dawning light. Oblivious to their separation, Ash and Cynthia continued on their separate paths through the forest.

Ash and Pikachu continually marched through the forest, until a rustling sound from the bushes seven feet behind them. Slowly, Pikachu reached into Ash's backpack and handed him a flashlight.

"Thanks, Pikachu" Ash commended. With one quick spin on his heels, Ash spun around and blazed the flashlight into the bushes. Much to his surprise, a human caused the rustling, to his surprise it was a little girl with black hair over her eyes and a small orange dress. All she did was giggled before running back into the bushes.

"Wait! Do you know how to get out of this forest?" Ash called out to the girl. Instincts came in, and Ash followed the little girl, with Pikachu on his shoulder.

Ash could see the little girl through the bushes and the low tree branches. He could see her getting closer to the volcano. Before Long Ash had cleared the forest and found himself standing before an archway carved into the side of Stark Mountain. The little girl from the forest took one look at Ash before running through the archway and into the volcano.

"Wait stop!" Ash called out. Once again following his instincts, Ash followed the girl into the volcano.

The walls of the tunnel into the volcano's heart was lined with hieroglyphs detailing the history of the Platinum Wars. From the slaughter at the Palace of Light, to Giratina's exile to the Distortion World. Finally, the Pokémon Trainer realized that this was the place from which the Griseous Orb was entombed and the child could be something Giratina created.

Finally the tunnel came to an end, into a massive chamber with a long bridge across a pit of lava. On the far side of the bridge was a decorated altar with large spikes coming out of the ground and surrounding it. Upon the alter sat a yellow jagged stone. Ash theorized that the stone was actually a sphere that had been deformed by evil, along with its master. This, was the Griseous Orb.

"Stop now!" Ash shouted to the little girl, who was now standing at the opposite side of the bridge.

"Don't worry" The little girl said, "Everything will be alright Ash Ketchum."

As the girl spoke, her voice began to become deeper and deeper. Slowly her body began to turn black and semi transparent as it went back against the far wall, made from reflective igneous stone, becoming a shadow. Slowly the shadow turned into a six tentacle dragon with glowing red eyes. A deep growl began to echo through the chamber and Ash began to see just what was confronting him.

"Giratina" Ash realized. Pikachu leapt off his shoulder and used a Thunderbolt attack against Giratina's shadow, to no prevail.

"You don't scare me, you're trapped in the Distortion World." Ash commented.

"Which is why you will bring the Griseous Orb to me." Giratina demanded.

"Never!" Ash shouted back to the shadow.

"Are you certain?" Giratina asked mockingly. At a quick speed, his dark shadow faded away and Misty soon appeared, suspended in mid air over the large spikes over the alter. Her face bore a blank expression as though she was in some kind of trance.

"Misty!" Ash shouted in surprise and horror. Ash was thrilled to see his friend alive, but he was horrified to see her in such a defenseless and dangerous condition.

"If you do not remove the Griseous Orb, then I cannot guarantee her safety." Giratina's shadow may not have been there, but his menacing voice still echoed through the volcano. Before Ash could respond, Misty's still form began to slowly descend towards the spikes. Within minutes she would make contact with the lethal rock formations. Without a second's hesitation, Ash took off towards the alter with Pikachu running on all fours in front of him.

"Pikachu, I want you to use your Iron Tail to knock the orb off the altar while I grab Misty." Ash commanded his Pokémon.

Pikachu began to run at an even greater speed. Once Pikachu was close enough to the altar, he leapt into the air. His tail began to glow a silver glow and the electric mouse swung his entire body against the orb. Pikachu expected the orb to go flying off the altar and to collide with the rock wall. Instead the Griseous Orb simply tumbled off like a rock falling off a hill. The orb hit the ground with a large thud, it did not even bounce back up. From this Pikachu could tell that the Griseous Orb was incredibly heavy.

Upon the Griseous Orb descending from the altar, the spikes retracted back into the ground in the blink of an eye. The spikes retreated just in time for Misty to get close enough to them. But before Misty could collide with the altar, Ash leapt through the air and caught her in his arms. The Pokémon Trainer still kept going through the air for two meters before landing on his feet.

"I'm so glad you're alive Misty." Ash said to his still entranced love. Slowly and carefully, Ash pulled Misty's face closer to rest it on his shoulder. But before he could bring her any closer, she faded away out of his arms.

"Misty! Where did she go?" Ash asked himself and Giratina. To Ash's horror and anger, he had discovered Giratina's plot, to use a fake Misty to get him to remove the Griseous Orb.

"Bring me the Griseous Orb and she will be returned to you." Giratina bargained. Ash wanted Misty to be by his side again, but not if it came at the cost of the Pokémon World.

"Never Giratina! I'll never do anything for you!" Ash shouted back at the shadow that returned before him, "Besides, you can't convince me otherwise, you can't leave the Distortion World!"

"But my power knows no limit." Giratina responded. A sound of hissing came from behind Ash and Pikachu. Both of them turned around to see an Anti Celebi behind them. The cursed Pokémon began to advance towards the Griseous Orb, bent on taking it back to its master.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted. Pikachu jumped into the air and sent a powerful blast of electricity from its body to the Anti Celebi. Once the blinding light of the electricity cleared, Ash and Pikachu were astounded to see the Anti Celebi seemed completely unscathed.

"Such a foolish tactic, behold my power." Giratina taunted. The Anti Celebi flew into the air and used Pikachu's same Thunderbolt attack on Ash and the small real Pokémon. Electricity flowed violently through both of them. After a few seconds, the thunder dissipated and Ash and Pikachu collapsed to the ground.

With both of its rivals on the ground, the Anti Celebi flew towards the Griseous Orb and picked it up. Despite the orb being even larger than the Dark Pokémon, it had supernatural strength and used it to lift the Griseous Orb with ease. Before the Anti Celebi got more than ten feet off the ground, the Razor Sharp fin sliced the creature in half. The Anti Celebi collapsed into its liquid state that quickly evaporated away.

Landing in front of Ash and Pikachu, who had just regained their fallen strength, was a Garchomp. Cynthia soon leapt down from the ceiling in front of them.

"Cynthia." Ash declared with joy as he got to his feet, "How did you know where to find me and Pikachu?"

"I simply looked for the most hazardous place anyone could be." Cynthia answered smiling as she called back her Garchomp. Cynthia then reached down to the Griseous Orb and picked it up carefully.

"The champion" Giratina addressed, "I see you can protect the Sacred Knight, but can you save the Guardian Priestess."

"She's safe, far out of your reach Giratina." Cynthia spat back.

"Once again, you are very wrong." Giratina responded. At that moment, a swirling vortex appeared in front of Ash and Cynthia. From inside the vortex, Ash and Cynthia could see Dawn, Red and Brock at the base of the Sky Pillar. They were kneeling on the ground, with their hands behind their heads, surrounded by three Anti Legendary Birds and Anti Forces of Nature, in front of them was a terrifying dragon Pokémon that looked at Dawn with a look of sadistic satisfaction. If that was not enough, even Cresselia was there, a prisoner of the dragon Pokémon.

"Oh no! Dawn! Red!" Ash shouted.

"What about me?" Brock shouted at Ash through the portal.

" Giratina has perfected his Anti legendary Pokémon." Cynthia explained, "We've got to help Dawn now."

Ash grabbed Pikachu and began to run across the bridge with Cynthia. But before the two got more than halfway across the bridge, Giratina's shadow resurfaced.

"Awaken, guardian of the mountain, they're stealing the orb!" Giratina shouted throughout the chamber, "You must not let them leave with their lives!"

From below the lava, something began to rise up. A four legged Pokémon that seemed to be made of rock. The odd Pokémon began scaling the side of the wall. Lava dripped off its body, as its red eyes gazed down at the humans and Pokémon with furious anger in them. Cynthia recognized it immediately.

"Heatran." Cynthia addressed with great fear in her voice.

Heatran jumped off the wall and onto the bridge before Ash and Cynthia. Slowly, they began to back across the bridge and towards the altar where the Griseous Orb once sat for a thousand years. Above the altar, a violent purple and black portal opened, on the other side of it, the real Giratina hovered there awaiting for Ash and Cynthia to pass through.

"Giratina's going to push us into the Distortion World" Ash concluded as he looked back at the portal behind him.

"Forcing us to give him the Griseous Orb." Cynthia finished. The Sinnoh Champion looked at the twisted orb she held in her hands and began to think. If Giratina reverted to his Original Form then he could be unbeatable. She would not surrender its power so easily, there was only one thing she could do.

"He wants the orb he can come and get it." Cynthia declared as she lifted the Griseous Orb over her head.

"Cynthia! What're you doing?!" Ash asked in shock. Without answering him, Cynthia threw the orb into the lava river around the bridge. Slowly the orb began to sink into the molten rock before fading away completely.

"No you fool!" Giratina shouted from across the portal.

"This power was a gift from your father as a tool to protect Pokémon." Cynthia berated the black renegade, "And all you did was use it as a weapon for your own selfish benefit. You don't deserve it."

"Then you shall join with the universe." Giratina declared. His plot thwarted, the Renegade Pokémon gave his human opponents one final glare of anger before closing the dimensional gateway to his world.

"Well that takes care of him." Cynthia declared triumphantly.

"Yeah" Ash added, "But how do we deal with that." The young trainer pointed back towards the angered Heatran that was preparing to fight back.


	14. Rayquaza

Brock had no idea how everything changed so adversely this quickly. Early that morning he had arrived to Sky Pillar alongside of Red and Dawn. The air was crisp and clear, Flying Pokémon soared through the sky and in the oceanic waters around the monument Water Pokémon leapt out of the water, dancing with joy.

Then all that changed in an instant. Antimon attacked them, lead by a terrifying Dragon that had power over ice. Before their Pokémon could even react to their Trainers' commands, they overwhelmed and subdued. Cresselia arrived as soon as Dawn summoned her with her powers. Even her power was not enough to defeat the commanding Dragon Pokémon. Soon the battle was lost and both human and Pokémon were captive prisoners.

Kyurem stared down at the humans with dark and cruel joy. In just one battle this Pokémon and his servants had taken the Guardian Priestess and a Sacred Knight as prisoners, as well as a Legendary Pokémon. His effectiveness in this hunt would definitely make Giratina proud of his work. But the Unova Legendary was desperate to be free from the dark one's services and he knew that the best way to buy his freedom would be to appeal to Giratina's savage nature. Coldly, Kyurem glared at his prey he knew what he should do next.

"All right you have me, now let my friends go." Dawn demanded the Ice dragon before her.

"You will give me no commands insect!" Kyurem roared at Dawn, "I am commanded by no mortal!"

"You talk boldly for one who lives every day in fear of Giratina" Cresselia said.

"You will fear his wrath too" Kyurem responded, this time seemingly more satisfied, "I will bring you all before him, for judgment."

Behind Kyurem, a purple portal to the Distortion World appeared on the reflective stone of the Sky Pillar. The Legendary Antimon forced their four prisoners to their feet and began pushing them towards the portal. Kyurem stood beside the pillar, a grim smile grew on his toothy face. With the Guardian Priestess, a Sacred Knight and the phoenix of the moon as his prisoners, Giratina would no doubt grant him freedom.

It was clear that Dawn was horrified. Not for her life, but for her friends'. If they could not survive to see another sunrise, then her driving force for this quest would be for nothing. She was a Guardian Priestess, it was her goal to protect others, but now she had failed.

"Don't Kyurem! You can't do this!" Dawn screamed in desperation to Kyurem.

"Watch me." Kyurem coldly responded.

"Red, please tell me you have a plan." Brock whispered in a pleading voice to the Pokémon Master.

"I've got nothing." Red whispered back.

The Boundary Pokémon swung his head down towards Cresselia, looking her in the eye as she was the first in line and a mere few inches away from the portal. Cresselia could not conceal the terror in her eyes. In the next few minutes, the Black Renegade would bring to her, a quick but painful demise.

"Any last words?" Kyurem taunted the elegant Pokémon, as she was about to cross through the portal.

"None you would want to hear, Kyurem." Cresselia coldly answered.

Cresselia prepared to accept death, when a roar emanated from the black clouds above them. The ice dragon looked above to see something moving from inside the clouds. Kyurem fired a Dragon Pulse into the clouds in a desperate measure to hit his opponent, nothing fell from the sky. Instead a Pokémon emerged from the now thundering clouds and fired a Hyper Beam attack at the Legendary Bird Antimon.

Red recognized this Pokémon. Its long green snake body, coupled with large fins coming off its head and its small forearms made it clear who this Pokémon was to the Ultimate Trainer Master. Rayquaza the Sky High Pokémon, the most powerful being in Hoenn mythology.

"Rayquaza's come to protect Sky Pillar to regain its strength." Brock reasoned, "That's good timing."

"No, it's here to defeat Kyurem." Red argued.

Rayquaza wasted no time in firing its Hyper Beam three times from its mouth. Each hit was a direct hit on the three Anti Legendary Birds, incinerating them before they could even react. Once Giratina's deathless warriors were defeated the guardian of the ozone layer was quick to attack their field commander.

Rayquaza fired a fury of Thunder blasts from its mouth towards Kyurem. The ruthless ice dragon was able to dodge the attacks coming at him, except for one that struck him square in his chest. The blast of electricity infuriated Giratina's reluctant commander. If it was a battle to the death Rayquaza wanted, then that would be what it would get. But Kyurem knew he would never be able to defeat Rayquaza if he stayed on the ground, he had to take flight and there was only one way that he could.

A flaming sphere developed around Kyurem. It roared and raged for three seconds before dispersing, revealing Kyurem's new form. Instead of having a hunched over posture, he was upright. A part of the crest on his head had developed a white streamer. His wings faded and became a white extensions on one of his now elongated arm and a crystal one on his other arm. And his shoulder seemed to develop a crystalline armor with two spikes coming off the back of both of them. Kyurem let out one powerful roar, before taking to the skies after Rayquaza.

"What happened to him?" Dawn asked in shock.

"Kyurem holds parts of his brothers DNA" Cresselia explained, "When faced with powerful enemies he will call upon their DNA to fill the holes in his own allowing him to take on new forms. That is a form created using some of Reshiram's DNA"

Rayquaza and Kyurem darted around each other firing Hyper Beams and Dragon Pulse attack respectively. While Rayquaza had its serpentine form and maneuverability to dodge its opponent's attacks, while Kyurem had his sheer speed, something his White Form granted him.

Kyurem charged at Rayquaza head on. As he charged, his clawed hand formed a gauntlet of shadow energy around it as he swung it outward at his nemesis. Rayquaza narrowly dodged the attack while its swung its clawed hand outward and slashed at its opponent. Rayquaza's clawed hand hit Kyurem in his armored face, narrowly the claws missed his eye. Kyurem jumped back, roaring in pain. The attack enraged Kyurem even more.

Rayquaza charged at Kyurem, its eyes and body began glowing red. The faster Rayquaza moved, the brighter the glow grew. Soon the ozone dweller was moving too quickly for even Kyurem to match. Rayquaza rammed into Kyurem with all its strength, the impact pushed Kyurem out of the sky and Rayquaza went after him. With great ferocity Rayquaza began to slash and bite his rapidly descending opponent.

"Wow, Rayquaza must be angry." Dawn commented.

"It's not angry it's using Outrage." Red corrected.

"So that means he is angry." Dawn responded smiling.

"Even still Rayquaza's at a type disadvantage" Brock added.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"Rayquaza is a Flying Dragon type while Kyurem's an Ice Dragon type" Brock explained, "Both Kyurem's types are extremely effective against both of Rayquaza's types. So Kyurem has an advantage on his side both ways."

Kyurem finally pushed Rayquaza away from himself, long enough to stop his falling. This battle had gone on for long enough and now the Boundary Pokémon was going to end it once and for all.

Kyurem fired an Ice Beam attack that struck Rayquaza right on its underbelly, coating it in ice. Although it was not completely frozen, Rayquaza seemed to be in great pain. Seeing his chance to attack again, Kyurem fired a Dragon Pulse attack that sent Rayquaza falling out of the sky. Not satisfied yet, Kyurem prepared for one of his most devastating attacks. The spikes coming out of his shoulders, leapt into his shoulders and drilled into four holes in his tail. Soon Kyurem's entire body began to glow red and purple. The Pokémon roared triumphantly as beams of red and purple energy flew out of his body and struck Rayquaza as he kept falling.

Rayquaza crashed to the earth with tremendous force. The combination of attacks that it suffered was too much for to handle, and it couldn't get back up. Kyurem jumped out of the sky and landed against the ground with tremendous force, with one of his feet striking down against Rayquaza's back. The injured dragon let out a shriek of pain as it fell unconscious. The Anti Force of Nature Trio approached Kyurem as a sign of their congratulations of his victory.

"Rayquaza no!" Brock shouted in terror.

"Get up, please!" Dawn shouted with tears in her eyes.

"Fine then Rayquaza" Kyurem growled, "Since you dared to stand against me, I will pass my own judgment upon you!"


	15. Mega Blaziken

"Leave Rayquaza alone Kyurem!" Dawn pleaded with the victorious Pokémon, "What will killing it prove?"

"My power" Kyurem growled, "I am the most powerful dragon on Earth."

Dawn was mortified, the single Pokémon that could defeat both Groudon and Kyogre had just met a cataclysmic defeat at the hands of a savage. The worst part was that their Pokémon were unable to battle. The struggle against the Antimon had taken a toll on their real Pokémon and they met their own defeat. Desperately, the young Priestess looked over to Red hoping the king of Trainers would have a plan. Judging by the expression on his face, Red had nothing planned, he had nothing but a look of defeat on his face.

From the bushes around Sky Pillar, James and Meowth had watched the entire battle, unbeknownst to the Pokémon or the twerps they were spying on. Despite their continual failures, stealth was the one thing they could count on.

"That Kiwi Rim is a lot tougher than he looks." James commented.

"That's Kyurem carrot head." Meowth corrected, condescendingly.

"I say we protect the twerps and fight that thing." James recommended as he grabbed a PokéBall from off his belt and prepared to stand up. Meowth was quick to warn him of the danger ahead.

"Do you really want to stand up to that thing after what he did to Rayquaza?" Meowth asked. James felt a freezing chill run up his spine, realizing that Meowth was right. If Rayquaza couldn't stop Kyurem, what chance did Carnivine have. Regrettably, the Team Rocket agents sat back down into the bushes.

Kyurem however, did not seem to be preparing to eliminate the helpless Pokémon before him. To the Team Rocket agents spying on him, it was almost like something far in the forest caught his attention.

"Why hasn't he bumped off Rayquaza yet?" James asked curiously. Meowth sensed a disturbance through his whiskers.

"Something's coming, and Kyurem can sense it." Meowth explained.

"Is it the other twerps or maybe another zombie Pokémon thing?" James asked.

"No way, it's moving too fast." Meowth answered.

Kyurem glared through the forest, preparing for whatever dared leap out of it. To be better prepared for the oncoming opponent, the Boundary Pokémon reverted to his normal form. The forest began to come alive with the sounds of trees shaking and branches snapping. The sound became louder and louder, filling everyone (Human and Pokémon) with an innate sense of curiosity and terror. What was coming through the forest, was it friend of foe?

The answer came in the form of a Pokémon charging out of the forest straight at Kyurem. This was a Pokémon that none of them had ever seen before and it was attacking Giratina's military commander. As Kyurem swung his head down to use his Dragon Pulse, this new Pokémon swung its three fingered fists against Kyurem's face at breakneck speed. The fists struck Kyurem several times before the Pokémon released a Flamethrower from its mouth that struck the dragon in his chest and sent him flying into the base of Sky Pillar. Upon colliding with the tower, large chunks of the wall broke off and crashed down onto the dazed Pokémon, burying him alive.

The Pokémon turned to the human and Pokémon captives. Now that the mysterious creature stopped moving at incredibly quick speeds, the trainers could finally see who this Pokémon really was.

"Blaziken?" Dawn asked shocked.

It was indeed a Blaziken, but this Pokémon was different. It's legs and chest had become black, with its chest covered in thick white feathers and it's long white feather mane had developed a V shape at the top of its head. Flames seemed to dance from the Pokémon's wrist as it prepared itself to face the Antimon who kept its friends prisoner.

"I've never heard of a Pokémon changing like this" Brock commented as he took a closer look at the Pokémon. Red was the only one who knew what this was.

"Mega Evolution" Red said to himself.

In just a few seconds, Blaziken's trainer revealed herself to the other humans and Pokémon.

"Good job Blaziken" May commended as she and Max ran out of the bushes.

"May?" Brock asked surprised to see the Hoenn born trainer, "I thought you were part of Ash's team."

"I can explain that later." May answered.

The rubble around Kyurem lifted and the Dragon pulled himself free from the stones. Kyurem glared at the Mega Blaziken and bellowed at it. Cresselia charged beside Blaziken and together they faced Kyurem, ready to fight him.

Kyurem leapt into the air and began to change his form. Both his arms grew very long and his left one became black. His face turned black and his eyes stopped glowing. his tail grew out and turned black. Both of his wings grew out and one turned black while the other turned crystalline in color.

"He changed form again?" Brock asked, astounded. Cresselia spoke and Dawn translated her.

"Kyurem called on Zekrom's DNA." Dawn explained.

Kyurem continued to growl and hiss at the Pokémon opponents before him. They were not backing down and the battle soon began. Kyurem made the first move, his clawed hand began to develop a black, glowing aura around it, the aura changed into the shape of a large claw with a purple lining. Red recognized this as a Shadow Claw move, some of his Pokémon knew it and it was quite the devastating move, especially to a Psychic Type like Cresselia.

Kyurem swung his Shadow Claw at the two Pokémon, both were fast enough to dodge it. Cresselia flew around to face Kyurem face to face. She created a pink Aura Sphere in her mouth which she fired at Kyurem, striking him in his face.

With their Antimon captives distracted by watching the battle, Red saw a chance to join the battle. He shook his hips allowing one PokéBall to fall off and roll before him. After rolling for a small period, it opened to reveal Chars. Despite the large and powerful creature that just materialized before them, the Antimon were still distracted by the battle they were watching.

"Help Blaziken" Red instructed.

The impact of the Aura Sphere blast caused Kyurem to spin around in pain. Once he spun around and looked directly behind himself, he saw Chars standing in front of him. Using his Mega Stone, Chars Mega Evolved into Charizard X to use a super charged version of his Air Slash. The Air Slash hit with enough force that Kyurem was forced back into the water around the beach.

"Blaziken use Flame Kick!" May commanded. Blaziken's leg caught on fire as it swung its leg upward and struck Kyurem in his face, just as he was emerging from the sea. The attack, left a burn on the side of his face as Blaziken did several back flips in mid air before landing right beside May.

"Good one Blaziken" May commended as she wrapped her arms around her Pokémon's waist and hugged it. Blaziken looked down at May and smiled, proud to see her happy.

The Antimon could see that their master was in dire need of help and so prepared for combat. Dawn knew that the Pokémon fighting on their behalf would not be able to combat three supercharged Antimon and the most powerful dragon Pokémon in the world at once, she knew there was only one person who could help. Concentrating, Dawn sent her mind out to the only being who could help her at this point.

"Cresselia, the Antimon are going to attack, what should I do?" Dawn asked.

"Use the flute Dawn" Cresselia responded before returning to the battle.

"Brock pass me the flute" Dawn ordered. Without saying anything, Brock reached into a compartment in his backpack, pulled out the Azure Flute and slid it across the ground towards Dawn. As he did, the Antimon had taken to the sky and were ready to ambush the three Pokémon fighting their master.

Quickly, Dawn grabbed the flute and blew into one end of it. Expecting to hear a deafeningly shrill sound due to its age, Dawn was surprised when it created a soft and harmonic tune. It was almost relaxing to hear such calming music, Dawn began to believe that the music of the Azure Flute would calm the Antimon and stop them from attacking. Instead, they seemed to be in agony as they listened to the song, their high pitched shrieks echoed across Sky Pillar as they slowly began to dissolve, before long the Anti Force of Nature Trio was nothing more than three puddles on the ground.

"What was that?" Brock asked surprised.

"I don't know, but now we know how we can stop the Antimon" Max deduced.

Driven by his anger, Kyurem took to the skies. He was determined to end this battle once and for all. Kyurem put his claws together, once he did a swirling white ball of bright energy began to form as electricity danced out of it.

"Behold the power of my Freeze Shock!" Kyurem roared as the boundary Pokémon released his claws and the energy ball flew towards his opponents. The Freeze Shock blast hit the ground and sparked a massive explosion.

Giratina's violent servant let out a growling chuckle. As the smoke settled, Kyurem was expecting to see the frozen corpses of his human and Pokémon nemesis. Instead what he saw was a bright yellow force field around the humans and Pokémon. What was even more astounding was to see that it was not Cresselia generating the shield, it was Dawn. The young girl appeared to have held up her hands in fear as the blast came towards them and unintentionally triggered a shield made of her own pure powers.

"Whoa, Dawn" May complimented.

"I didn't know you could do that" Max commented.

"I didn't know either" Dawn explained.

"You're getting stronger." Red commented as well.

Kyurem was adversely shocked to see such a young Priestess best him with her powers. How dare this pathetic child make him look like a fool. Now she was going to pay, he could already see that the first blast had weakened her greatly, there was no way she could keep up this shield for one more attack. As Kyurem prepared to attack the humans once more, someone reached into his mind.

"Kyurem! What are you doing?" A familiar voice demanded.

"I am doing as you commanded of me Lord Giratina." Kyurem explained. Unfortunately for Kyurem, he was the only one who could hear the voice of his master. Leaving everyone to believe the Pokémon was all but mad.

"Is he talking to himself?" May asked.

"I knew Kyurem was powerful" Max explained, "But I didn't know he wasn't crazy."

"I think Giratina really is talking to him" Dawn protested.

"You have failed me already" Giratina growled, "To the Distortion World now!"

Kyurem took one last, sorrowful look at the humans. He was so close to victory, if he could just weaken the Priestess and then bring her to Giratina then he had a chance of buying his freedom. Tragically, the Boundary Pokémon also knew that his deranged master would slaughter him in cold blood for not obeying his orders directly. His decision was made, if he returned immediately there was a chance he would survive long enough to buy his freedom another day. The dragon let out one powerful roar before disappearing into the sky.

"Glad that nightmare's over" Max commented as he and the others watch Kyurem fade away.

Red was happy to see the dangerous dragon defeated and to see Blaziken unlock the secret of Mega Evolution. But he was still suspicious as to how May could've learned that of her Pokémon.

"I thought you were with Ash, what happened?" Red asked suspiciously.

May did not want to reveal to her friends that she abandoned Ash and Cynthia, but she knew that it would seem a lot better if she told them and not Ash or Cynthia told them. It was clear to her what needed to be done.

"I'll tell you what happened" May began, "but it's a long story and I don't think we have time right now"

"She's right" Brock added, "Kyurem could come back, let's get into Sky Pillar and find that riddle."

"But what about Rayquaza?" Max asked as he pointed at the Pokémon who was still lying still on the ground. Max's worry caught everyone's attention, they could all see Rayquaza was unconscious and it was unsure it was still alive.

"I'll try to heal it" Dawn said, "But I think I may've spent most of my powers on that shield."

Dawn made a slow and cautious approach to the still Pokémon, slowly lifting her hand out to touch the injure animal. She was weary, if Rayquaza was still alive, then it could awaken at any second and potentially attack her. As she got closer to it, she could see something very odd on its side. A small spot on Rayquaza's side did not have the same yellow pattern that the rest of him did, something was covering it up. Once Dawn got close enough, she could see writing. It was clear to Dawn what the riddle on the Azure Flute truly meant.

"Guys!" Dawn shouted to the others, who were keeping their distance, for good reason. "The riddle isn't in Sky Pillar! It's here on Rayquaza!"

The young Priestess was unaware that all of her shouting caused the Pokémon to return to consciousness. Rayquaza's eyes snapped open and frantically began darting around in all directions. As the eyes began moving, it spotted a human female standing dangerously close to it. Acting on instinct, Rayquaza reared its massive body into the air and began roaring at the young girl. As she jumped back, Rayquaza could see other humans standing behind her. This, coupled with its recent defeat by Kyurem, caused the Pokémon to think that they were enemies.

Red's past experience with Rayquaza told him that this was a very volatile and dangerous Pokémon who could get enraged very easily. It was obvious to him, that this Pokémon had no idea that Dawn was chosen by Arceus and was going to attack her at any moment, unless he acted. Red ran out and put himself between Dawn and Rayquaza and tried reasoning with the towering beast.

"Rayquaza! remember me! Team Rocket? The Jade Orb?" Red pleaded, but Rayquaza refused to listen. The Pokémon was still engulfed in rage and fury.

"Wait, you met Rayquaza before?" May asked, shocked but not as shocked as she would've been months before she even knew Red as a person.

"Long story" Red spared a split second to explain. The Pokémon Master turned back to see the inside of Rayquaza's mouth began glowing orange, it was readying a Hyper Beam. In just seconds, Red and all his friends would be incinerated. He had to think fats, none of the plans running through his mind would be effective. Until finally, one came to mind.

_I just hope it works_ Red thought as he ran up to Rayquaza and rolled up his right shirt sleeve, revealing the mark of a Sacred Knight.

The mark instantly caught Rayquaza's eye and it recognized the human boy as a fighter in Arceus' name. Like this human, Rayquaza was obliged by the God of Pokémon to protect humans and Pokémon alike from the wrath of darkness. As all but a few specific Legendary Pokémon were. Finally Rayquaza understood that they were allies and ceased its Hyper Beam. The Pokémon lowered his body to the ground and lowered his head in submission.

"Dawn use your powers to speak with Rayquaza" Brock instructed.

"Okay" Dawn responded as she walked up to Rayquaza and showed it the mark on the palm of her hand. Now Rayquaza understood that she was a Guardian Priestess, a daughter of Arceus.

"Rayquaza, I need to see the hieroglyphs on your side" Dawn explained.

"You have my permission, holy woman" Rayquaza answered.


	16. Charizard

Ash and Cynthia had no way to escape. The Heatran standing before them was blocking the only way out of Stark Mountain with its body. None of Pikachu or Garchomp's attacks seemed to be doing anything to slow down the lumbering Pokémon. As best they tried, it was clear that there was a reason this Pokémon was stationed to guard the Griseous Orb, it was invincible.

"Gastrodon use Muddy Water!" Cynthia commanded her giant slug Pokémon.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash instructed.

Pikachu waited for Gastrodon to make its attack. Gastrodon unleashed a swirling torrent of brown water at Heatran. The Muddy water struck Heatran, but didn't seem to harm the Pokémon at all. However, there was more to Ash and Cynthia's strategy. Now that Heatran was soaked in water, it would conduct electricity much more. Pikachu released a devastating blast of electricity that collided with Heatran with enough force that the static charge kicked up a cloud of dust. There was no sign of movement from within the cloud.

"All right, we got it!" Ash cheered prematurely.

"It seems that way, doesn't it." Cynthia commented, this was her way of saying they defeated the giant Pokémon. However their victory was far too early.

From within the cloud of dust, a violent, spiraling blast of fire came soaring towards Ash, Cynthia and their Pokémon. Fortunately, the Sinnoh Champion caught it out of the corner of her eye.

"Ash get down, that's Heatran's Magma Storm!' Cynthia shouted as she jumped to the ground, while calling Gastrodon back to its PokéBall. Ash and Pikachu narrowly evaded the blast before it turned the altar of the Griseous Orb behind them, to dust. The shock wave from the blast was enough to topple Ash off his footing and to the ground.

"How is it still battling?" Ash asked astonished, "We've hit it with everything we've got and then some."

"Remember Ash, this Pokémon has to guard one of the most evil relics of all time" Cynthia explained as she struggled to get back to her feet, "It has to be tough enough to withstand average Pokémon attacks."

Before the dust had finished settling, Heatran leapt out of the cloud into mid air. From the way it jumped, it was obvious that the Lava Dome Pokémon did not intend to pounce on the humans, but rather simply jump into the air.

"What's Heatran doing?" Ash asked Cynthia.

"It's going to use its Earthquake move" Cynthia explained, with great terror, "If it does, then the bridge will collapse, with us still on it"

"Heatran wait!" Ash shouted to the attacking Pokémon, "We were here to destroy the Griseous Orb so Giratina couldn't get it!"

"I think that's the reason he's attacking us" Cynthia theorized, "If we destroy the Griseous Orb, then he loses his purpose. Now he's attacking us out of rage for succeeding in destroying the Orb."

Now Heatran was inches away from the ground. Within just seconds it would hit the ground, destroy the bridge and Ash, Pikachu and Cynthia would fall into the lava below them. Heatran would be safe due to its thick hide, but they would not be so lucky.

However, just before hitting the ground, an orange blur flew from the entrance behind Heatran and stuck it with great force, pushing it into the lava. The blur stopped moving in front of Ash and revealed itself to be a Pokémon he was very familiar with.

"I don't believe it!" Ash said to himself as he got back to his feet and addressed the Pokémon before him, "Charizard!"

"This is your Pokémon Ash?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah, he must've flown all the way from Professor Oak's laboratory to help us." Ash deduced.

"But how could he have known about your quest?" Cynthia was curious as to how this Pokémon could've known. Suddenly the volcano began to shake as Heatran lifted itself out of the lava and began to scale the side of the volcano wall.

"We can figure that out later, right now we've got to take care of this Pokémon." Ash concluded.

Heatran released another Magma Storm that flew straight towards Charizard. Ash and his Pokémon were quick to respond.

"Dodge it Charizard and use Wing Attack!" Ash instructed. Charizard swerved out of the way of the blast and flew towards Heatran as his wings began to glow. Charizard struck Heatran in the face with his wings causing the Pokémon to real back in pain.

Heatran recovered quickly and fired an Overheat attack at Charizard, which the Pokémon was quick to dodge again.

"Now Charizard use your Flamethrower!" Ash instructed. Charizard flew high into the air, far out of Heatran's reach, and shot a Flamethrower attack at the Pokémon. The flames were too intense even for Heatran and the Pokémon was forced to jump back.

Now Heatran had had enough of these intruders on its domain, it was time to finish them once and for all. The Pokémon fired a mixed blast of smoke and lava at Charizard, bent on ending the fight once and for all.

"Look out Charizard, that's Eruption!" Ash called out to his Pokémon. Charizard moved out of the way of the blast, but not fast enough. the Eruption attack hit him on his left wing. As Charizard reeled in pain, his flight pattern was broken and he fell out of the air, crashing onto the bridge below him.

"Charizard are you okay?" Ash asked worried and fearful. Charizard struggled to lift his own body weight and he barely got back onto his feet. Charizard looked intensely at the Heatran across the bridge. This Pokémon was definitely tougher than he first thought. Play time was over, now was the time for serious battling. Before Ash could call out an attack, Heatran leapt back into the air.

"Ash look out, Heatran's preparing to use Earthquake again!" Cynthia shouted to the Pokémon Trainer. Ash knew that he had to stop it from attacking, but Charizard was in barely enough shape to keep fighting, they had to end this soon and get out of there.

"Okay, Cynthia prepare to run" Ash instructed the Champion of the Sinnoh Region, "Charizard use your Dragon Tail!"

Charizard gathered all the strength he had and took to the air. As Charizard flew through the air, his tail began to glow blue as dragon power surged through it. Once Charizard estimated that he was close enough to Heatran, he spun his entire body around, with his tail stuck out. His Dragon Tail collided with Heatran's face, the impact once again forced the Pokémon off the bridge and back into the lava. This was the opportunity Ash was waiting for.

"Okay Charizard, go through the entrance!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon, as he reached down to grab Pikachu, he turned and looked at Cynthia, "That's for us too, let's run!"

Ash and Cynthia made a run for the door while Charizard stood by the entrance awaiting them. Once the two of them ran through the gateway, Charizard flew after them, entering the long and dark corridor that lead out of the volcano. The quicker they got out of the mountain the better.

Heatran had managed to pull itself out of the lava and back onto the bridge, in time to see that the humans and their Pokémon servants had fled. The Griseous Orb was destroyed, it had guarded the cursed object for centuries and now that it was gone this Pokémon had no purpose anymore. The Pokémon desperately wanted to fire a Magma Storm blast through the corridors leading out, but it knew that if it did then the volcano would erupt and desolate the entire forest around it. Every part of the Lava Dome Pokémon told it that it had failed Arceus, Heatran had faced defeat for the first time in its life. With nothing left to go on in its life, Heatran let out a powerful and despairing roar that shook Stark Mountain.

Outside the volcano, Ash and Cynthia escaped but continued sprinting for several meters until they reached dense forestry. Unaware they had accidently trampled a spying Jessie. As the Team Rocket agent lay on the ground, in pain, she grabbed her Pokégear and dialed a number on it.

"James, I say we meet back together" She offered weekly.

"I agree" James accepted, in just as weak a voice as his partner.


	17. The Next Chapter

Ash and Cynthia scurried to the nearest Pokémon Center, fortunately for them there was one not that far away from the volcano. Had Cynthia known there was one that close to Stark Mountain then they would've stayed there the night before entering the mountain. In the Center, Ash and Cynthia got their Pokémon restored to full health by Nurse Joy and they restocked on necessary health products for their Pokémon.

Cynthia sat at one of the benches, awaiting Ash who was at one of the Pokémon Transfer machine speaking with Professor Oak. After a few minutes, Ash finished with the machine and walked over to Cynthia.

"Well, it's all set, Charizard is now part of my team." Ash concluded.

"Excellent choice, which Pokémon did you exchange him for?" Cynthia asked.

"I sent Infernape over in exchange for Charizard's PokéBall." Ash explained.

"We should see if we can contact Red and the others over a Video-phone." Cynthia suggested.

"Yeah, see if they got the riddle we need." Ash concluded.

The two went over to the next free Video-phone and contacted the Pokémon Center nearest to Sky Pillar. Upon reaching the number, the Nurse Joy of that Center confirmed that Red and the others were there and patched Ash and Cynthia through to the awaiting Pokémon Master. On the video feed, Ash could see that it was not only Red, but Dawn and Brock were there with him and standing behind them was May and Max.

"Ash" Red greeted.

"Good to see you again." May greeted with a large smile on her face.

"Well, well, well" Ash responded smiling, "What happened to 'I quit?'"

"I tried" May began, "But then the writer would've killed me off if I tried too."

"Hi Ash!" Max greeted as she shoved his way past Red to see his old friend again.

"Hi Max, it's been a really long time." Ash responded before getting back to business.

"Did you guys get to destroy the Griseous Orb?" Brock asked.

"Yes, it's been destroyed, now Arceus' victory is assured." Cynthia confirmed, "Did you guys find the riddle?"

"Yeah" May answered, "But it wasn't inside of Sky Pillar, it was on Rayquaza."

Cynthia was surprised to hear that Rayquaza returned to Sky Pillar long before it was due to return.

"You saw Rayquaza there? What was it doing there?" Cynthia asked, curious and nervous.

"Fighting Giratina's servant" Red answered, "Kyurem."

"What does the riddle say?" Ash asked, impatient to get to the next monument. Dawn pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and began reading out loud off of it.

"Look across the sea, beneath the waves, follow the Sacred Knights and you shall find the light of Fontaine."

"The next monument is in Fontaine." Cynthia commented.

"What's Fontaine?" Dawn asked.

"Fontaine is a lost city in the Ransei Region." Cynthia answered.

"Said to be the final resting place of the Sacred Light." Red explained.

"What's the Sacred Light?" Max asked.

"Well no one knows what it is" Cynthia explained, "It gives off a searing light that blinds anyone who looks at it. For eons it was thought to be a powerful weapon. Armies fought for it and the Sacred Light moved from city to city until it was taken to the city of Fontaine on the coast of Ransei only to be consumed by the winds and the sea."

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"Swallowed by a hurricane that lasted two years." Red explained, "The wrath of God."

"It could be where the next riddle is" Brock assumed.

"If it blinds anyone who looks at it, how are we supposed to get the riddle off of it?" Dawn asked annoyed.

"You're in luck, only a Guardian Priestess can actually see past the light to see what the relic actually is." Cynthia informed.

"Great that means Dawn can tell us what the relic is, so we don't have to guess." Ash said.

"That's a problem Ash" Cynthia warned, "She is forbidden to say what the monument is."

"And it gets worse." Red added.

"How can it possibly be worse?" Max asked annoyed.

"Legends state that the city is guarded by vicious dragon" Red explained, "One more deadly than any beast seen before."

"How can anything be worse than Kyurem?" May asked in a very scared voice.

"We can't form a plan over the Video-phone." Brock offered as advice.

"Brock's right, there's only so much we can do separate" Dawn concluded, "We have to join up again."

"Okay, we'll meet you in the Ransei Region." Ash concluded.

"Good luck." Red finished as he hung up the Video-phone.

There was a dock not that far from Ash and Cynthia's current location. Boats leaving for further destinations often lead early in the morning. Ash grabbed his backpack, Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and he began walking towards the door. He stopped the minute he realized Cynthia was not walking with him.

"Aren't you coming Cynthia?" Ash asked her as he turned to face her.

"I'm going back to Celestic Town" Cynthia explained, "I need to continue my research and find out everything I can about Giratina and how to stop him, before the Platinum Wars start again."

Cynthia knew the discussion about the coming war was something Ash would not want to talk about. So she changed the conversation to another one, one that would appeal to Ash's inner feelings.

"Ash" Cynthia began as she put a caring hand on his shoulder, "I know what you gave up back at the volcano, and I know how difficult it was."

Ash knew she was referring to Giratina's bargain. Misty's freedom in exchange for the Griseous Orb. To give up the chance to see her again in favor of the safety of the universe, it took strength that Cynthia was envious of.

"I know, but Misty would never forgive me if I chose her over the fate of the world." Ash concluded.

"Do you remember what I told you when we first met?" Cynthia asked.

"When every life meets another life, something will be born." Ash recited, curious of what she inferred.

"When you first met Misty, a rivalry was born" Cynthia explained, "But like a Metapod becoming a Butterfree, your rivalry evolved into something entirely different."

"What was that?" Ash asked curiously. There was a pause before Cynthia answered him.

"Love."

"Love?" Ash repeated still curious.

"Would you still love Misty?" Cynthia asked, "Even if she… was lost?"

"I can't imagine my life with anyone but her" Ash answered, "She means the world to me."

"Then I have faith that you will find her one day." Cynthia assured.

Ash simply nodded before walking out the doors to the Pokémon Center. From there he would take a boat to Alto Mare, then another boat to the mysterious Ransei Region and seek the lost city of Fontaine. Heaven knows what terrors or mysteries awaited him there. As Cynthia watched him leave she said only one thing to herself, with worrying tears in her eyes.

"Good luck, and farewell."


End file.
